Wine Tasting - Beaujolais

Bassenthwaite Lake Station, Cumbria. Thursday 02-November-2023.

I have a soft spot for Beaujolais as the first wine I ever remember knowing by name was Moulin a Vent (1975), see My Life In ... Wine. We don't drink a lot of Beaujolais but every now and again think "Ooh yes, we must buy some" and always enjoy them when we do. I was very much looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with this AOC.

The tasting was mostly in pairs which works for me. I like a compare-and-contrast tasting.

No. Name of wine. Shop or Supplier Retail Price Country ABV Vintage ✱ Mary's star rating

1 Coup de tete Chardonnay Majestic £8 France 13% 2020 ✱
Light nose, unoaked, not very fruity, good acidity. Not a Beaujolais but a rare example of a white wine from the Beaujolais region.

2 Chassaux Gamay Aldi £6 France 13% 2022.
Light, but typical Gamay nose; soft, ripe red fruit, tannic. From the Ventoux region but made from the classic Beaujolais grape.

3 Chassaux et Fils Fleurie Aldi £9 France 13.5% 2022
Light, violets; tannic, not much fruit.

4 Domaine Pardon Fleurie Lakeland Vintners £22 France 13% 2022 ✱
Fuller nose, plummy; smooth, tannic, bit closed; too young?

5 Chateau de Pierraux Brouilly Sainsbury's £14 France 13% 2021 
Slight green note; full bodied and flavourful, black fruit, some tannins and length. ✱✱

6 Henry Fessy Brouilly Lakeland Vintners £22 France 13.5% 2019 ✱✱✱
Deeper more enticing nose; smooth, silky, lovely soft fruit flavours.

7 Chateau de Pizay Morgon Majestic £14 France 13.5% 2022 ✱✱✱
Lovely nose, plummy, faint violets; smooth, yummy, deep dark fruits, good tannins and acidity.

8 Les 3 Madones Beaujolais Villages Majestic £7 France Villages 12.5% 2021 ✱✱
Good nose; soft, plums, blackberry, tannic, medium body.

9 Moillard-Thomas Beaujolais Villages Majestic £12 France 12.5% 2021 ✱
Typical Gamay nose; soft, fruity, easy drinking.

10 Raoul Clerget Beaujolais Majestic £11 France 13% ✱✱
Light nose, bright and juicy, classic entry level Beaujolais.

11 Les Iris Beaujolais Booths £11 France 12% 2021
Light nose, fresh-ish, aromatic, short.

12 Beaujolais Superieur Sainsbury's £11 France 12.5% 2021.
Lightish nose, smooth, light fruit, but tannic.

I would take issue with the sequencing. Normally wines are presented in order of price, quality, power or whatever if appropriate so that each wine is not shown at a disadvantage compare to the proceeding wine(s). You might expect the order to be Beaujolais, Beaujolais Superieur, Beaujolais Villages and then the Cru such as Fleurie, Brouilly and Morgan. In this tasting, the Cru wines were in the middle to the disservice of the perfectly serviceable wines following.

Another interesting tasting organised Simon and Diana. Some people are reluctant to shout out their thoughts on the wines so I like the way they solicited feedback by walking round the tables and then summarising for the assembled company. 

As previously we had booked a room at The Pheasant Inn just 5 minutes walk away; a wise move. 

P.S. We made a trip to Majestic in Carlisle a couple of days later to buy some of the Raoul Clerget Beaujolais and the Chateau de Pizay Morgon.