What's Open Owen? - September '22 Edition

Beaujolais is Beautiful!

Beaujolais is located in Southern Burgundy in France and is most famous for its Beaujolais Nouveau, the first of the wines to be released in the new vintage. It is always released on the third Thursday of November and is a celebration. Its purpose is to be young, juicy, and drunk with a slight chill... or so I thought.

Beaujolais is always produced with the Gamay grape varietal and undergoes a specific type of fermentation called Carbonic Maceration. This is when they fill vats with whole, uncrushed berries, replace the oxygen with CO2, and allow the grapes to go through a process called intracellular fermentation. The grapes ferment from the inside out! The result is a fruitier wine with fewer tannins.

With all that being said, that is not what is open this month. What is open is Cru Beaujolais, and when you talk about the world-famous Cru Beaujolais, you have to talk about Domaine Marcel Lapierre in Morgon. His wines go through "Semi-Carbonic Maceration."

Here's What's Open:

2020 Domaine Marcel Lapierre Morgon

Marcel Lapierre was a part of the "gang of four," bringing Gamay into the light using organic practices. Four winemakers in the region asked, "What if we produced world-class Gamay using Burgundian methods and kept it completely sustainable? "They started to create age-worthy Beaujolais with incredible complexity, which blew my mind initially.

The wine was a pale ruby with youthful notes of berry and spice. It had a funkiness to it that is typical for Cru Beaujolais, but it was not overpowering. Lapierre created an elegant, well-balanced wine with a silky texture and a smooth finish.

This was not Nouveau in the slightest, and it completely changed my perception of the entire region.

All I have to say is thank you, Marcel Lapierre.

Have any questions or comments? Don't hesitate to reach out and let me know what you have open this month!

Cheers,

Owen Huzar