Regardless of my long standing rant about Gamay not being a noble grape I enjoyed today's Jancis Robinson's article, "Beaujolais' year in the sun," in the weekend FT. My father always thought a good Moulin-a-Vent or Morgon had a place in his cellar. I was the wine snob in the family, funny seeing how we came from a family of Italian-American home wine makers. But there in his cellar along with the Bordeaux (a nice selection of well made but not stupidly priced 2nd through fifth growths), Red Rhones (La Chapelle and Beaucastel before they became so dear), Mostly Tuscan Italians (Tignanello and Pergole Torte being his prizes), and his favorite CA Cabs (the 70s and early 80s Heitz, Stags Leap, BV, and Mondavi) were some small production Beaujolais. I remember particularly some by Jean Descombes, now sadly part of the Debeouf empire I believe.

Coming home from college or later the Army, I put up my nose at these bottles whenever I was invited to go down to pick out something. Then Jancis Robinson put out her seminal book "Vintage Time Charts" sometime in the 80s. This classic work on aging wine and how it evolves included so many of Dad's favorite wines. I was struck by how many of his favorites were used by Robinson to illustrate the aging curves of different wines. There was Lynch-Bages, La Chapelle, Beaucastel, Mondavi etc. And to my surprise thre also was Jean Descombes Morgan Beaujolais. I was mortified! Had I been wrong all these years? I showed Dad the book on my next visit and he was gracious though obviously amused. We went downstairs, book in hand and picked out a particularly well regarded vintage. The meal and the vintage are forgotten now but today's article brought back memories of a man who I think of daily. I miss him with all of my heart and toast his memory whatever the grape in my glass.

Cheers from a warm Austin, TX, Bob

Nice Bob.
Good memories. I've had a couple of very surprising gamay's over the years. I like them.

Wow, moving post, Bob, on many levels.

Who hasn't doubted the wisdom of a parent, only to be proved wrong, years later?

And as to Beaujo, well, I'm a big fan. It's wine for drinking the way wine was meant to be drunk; splashed into a glass with little thought, amid merriment and laughter and song.

I'd never be without it. May you never be, either.

Great story, Bob. Thanks.

But I'm left to wonder whether your father cellared any Muscadet?

Vissoux with dinner tonight.
Salut!
Best, Jim

Regards to your memories, of wine and your dad.

I owe my love of the grape to my dad. But, my love of cru Beaujolais is all my doing. I am letting several 2003s and 2005s (Morgan and Moulin a Vent) rack up cellar time. Recent openings have confirmed that these age beautifully, and the ones still in the cellar have years still to go.

My only "regret" is that the 2009 vintage is getting major press in lots of places. I can only hope that hype does not take over and impact pricing. The anecdote in the Jancis Robinson article about a whopping .50 Euro increase is reassuring.

So, go grab some of these '09s and forget them for several years. You should be very happy with the results!

I had Vissoux (2005 Fleurie Garants) with dinner last night. Wasn't a big dinner since it followed a four and a half hour lunch, but the Vissoux was mighty fine.

-Al

I too agree, as all have said, that the CRUs are much better than most people think. If that appreciation, or lack thereof, had, for instance, been with CDPs after the 1998 vintage, we would still have Vieux Donjon under $40, Beaucastel around $50, etc. Oh well.

My favorite wine year to date is the 2008 Chanrion Cote de Brouilly, Domaine de la Voute des Crozes. Amazing quality, purely drinkable, fun and quaff away. Love it. When it comes in (where I work luckily) in a month or so, case!

Finally, I do think the 2009s are coming at the right time. Money is tight everywhere, people simply do not buy $20/$30+ wines left and right like 3-5 years ago...the market will not support $30-50 CRUs. And not just that the economy is not there, but Beaujolais is still, lucky for us, not respected enough yet to warrent Bordeaux 2003-2005-2007-2009 price increases. And I suspect producers also know that if they want to raise prices to buy a new tractor, or pay for the kids schooling (i.e. NOT buy another yacht ala the Bordelais), they need to hook people with this awesome vintage, THEN they can start to crank it up IF sales are good. Otherwise, raise prices, don't get new people into the Beau drinking game, alienate people, loose big time.

2 cents,
Michael P.

I cannot get enough of Cru Beaujolais! Daniel Bouland and Jean-Paul Brun are some of my favorite producers. Such hedonistic and generous wines that strike the perfect balance between fruit, floral aromatics, acid, and grace.

I attended an offline last night, at which a 2002 Clos de la Roilette Vendange Tardive showed beautifully.

I never thought I'd say that about Beaujo at almost 10 years old, but there you go.