Okay, so despite my post “9 Reasons Not To Drink Beaujo Nouveau This Thursday,” I did end up consuming plenty of Beaujolais last night. Eighteen different wines in fact, yet not a single one being Nouveau. Arlequin Wine Merchant in San Francisco hosted an epic tasting called “No More Nouveau!” featuring the kind of wines I often dream about being open in a room together - quality Beaujolais wines, many of which from the classified 10 Crus of Beaujolais.

Some of my old favourites made an appearance which affirmed my love for them: Marcel Lapierre ‘08 Morgon, Clos de la Roilette ‘08 Fleurie, plus Jean Foillard ‘08 “Côte du Py” Morgon, which was showing remarkably better than the ‘07 I had a few months back. There were wines from producers I’ve been looking forward to trying and haven’t had access to back home like Jean-Paul Thévenet “Vielles Vignes” ‘08 Morgon, Guy Breton “Vielles Vignes” ‘08 Morgon, and Terres Dorées “Jean-Paul Brun” FRV100. Plus producers I didn’t even know existed such as Domaine Diochon, Domaine du Vissoux, Desvignes and Daniel Bouland.

I know I say this a lot, but man, I love Cru Beaujolais. Especially Morgon. Under-appreciated, interesting, terroir-driven wines with very reasonable price tags. Wines from the region’s “Gang of Five” really show you what can be achieved with natural wine making techniques and often low to no sulphur. If you still aren’t up to speed on what’s happening in Villié-Morgon, I highly recommend reading Tim Atkin’s article entitled “The New Beaujolais.”

I’ll spare you from my entire tasting notes on all the wines….plus my note-taking skills digressed as the evening went on, so here’s but a couple wines that were new to me and I think are worth talking about.

(Image borrowed from Pameladevi Govinda’s post on saignée’s 31 Days of Natural Wine)

Terres Dorées “Jean-Paul Brun” FRV100 $19 @ Arlequin
The delicious factor on this sparkling Gamay is spectacular and it may just be the worlds greatest brunch wine. “FRV100,” or “Effervescent,” when pronounced in Français, only has 7.5% alcohol and is fairly sweet, but balanced with acidity. Light red strawberry and raspberry fruits with a earthy hint. A very fun bubble. For more information you should check out Pameladevi Govinda’s post on 31 Days of Natural Wine Here.

(Image of the ‘04 Breton Morgon borrowed from wineanorak.com)

Guy Breton “Vieille Vignes” ‘08 Morgon $28 @ Arlequin
Guy Breton’s old vines Morgon was definitely my favourite in the “wines new to me” category. Light raspberry red fruit with an amazing cinnamon spiciness. I love this spicy character when it arises in Gamay, it’s huge in the Noëlla Morantin Loire Gamay I had last week, but this bottle has it more than any other Beaujolais I’ve tasted. Also a great stony/graphite minerality with great acid and great intensity. No extra points for the label unfortunately.

What a way to spend International Beaujolais Day - keep an eye out for these wines!

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