A Guide to the 10 Crus of Beaujolais
Cru Beaujolais...
...is getting a lot more attention these days.
The appellations (Morgon, Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent, etc.) may still not be as well-known as Gevrey-Chambertin or Margaux, but since the first version of this guide was published-- twlelve years ago!--the Crus of Beaujolais have become far more popular.
Partly this is thanks to vintages. Every vintage since this guide was first published (2014 through 2024) has been great in its own unique ways. Meanwhile, the wine press and the wine trade continue their never-ending hunt for the next new thing, and many of them have come across Beaujolais.
It has also helps that Beaujolais is such a dynamic region. Thanks to relatively low-cost vineyard land, a number of new high quality producers have acquired land and emerged on the scene. U.S. importers are paying more attention to the area than ever, and consumers are seeing a lot more interesting options on wine store shelves. It's an exciting time to be a Beaujolais lover!
What follows is an updated overview of the area with links to individual blog posts on the different Crus.
What is Cru Beaujolais?
In spite of this growing interest, there isn’t much information out there for consumers about the 10 Crus Beaujolais – there’s certainly no obvious book to read – so we hope this series of articles can help you out.
This is your one stop guide to the 10 Crus of Beaujolais.
Beaujolais, as you probably know, is a region in France (at the very southern end of Burgundy, beginning just south of Macon) where they make principally red wine with the grape, Gamay (they also make a little "white" Beaujolais from Chardonnay).
Beaujolais, like many French regions, ranks its vineyard sites. Ordinary vineyards can produce simple "Beaujolais," while vineyards in higher-ranked villages can label their wines "Beaujolais-Villages." Those wines tend to offer more than the basic Beaujolais: more complex flavors, more structure.
Ten of Beaujolais' villages are considered the best of all, and they are identified as "Crus". Such is the fame of these Crus that a Beaujolais that is entirely from a single Cru doesn't even put the name "Beaujolais" on its label, but only the name of its Cru (so, "Morgon," rather than "Beaujolais"). These wines represent the best of the Beaujolais: serious, delicious, and often age-worthy wines.
Here's an important point for American consumers: here, Cru Beaujolais remains incredibly underpriced. A top Bordeaux or top Burgundy will cost many hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, even though Cru Beaujolais represents the top category in its region, it is really really hard to spend more than $50 on a bottle. You can pretty easily find bottles for $25, and these days most bottles are around $30 to $35. That's a little more than when this guide was first published 12 years ago, but not much more, and given the quality, elegance and longevity of these wines, the value remains astounding.
The 10 Crus, from north to south are St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Each one has its own personality, and its own charms. One of the greatest pleasures in wine is working your way through the region, exploring each of them in turn.
This post is just a quick introduction and round-up of the 10 Crus of Beaujolais. Throughout this post, we've linked to our more detailed blog posts on each Cru. But for now we hope this helps you on your exploration through the wonderful world of the 10 Crus of Beaujolais.
Moulin-à-Vent
This is considered the sturdiest, most tannic, and longest-lived among the 10 Crus of Beaujolais. When you hear about folks opening up delicious bottles of 50-year old Beaujolais, it’s usually Moulin-à-Vent. But remember, we are still talking about Gamay. The wine is never that tannic, and most examples are still very approachable when they’re young, unless the vintage is a particularly structured one.
Because it produces sturdier Gamay, wines here are often made in a more serious style that is called "Burgundian". This means that wines are made with less carbonic maceration or semi-carbonic maceration (a way of fermenting wine without first crushing the grapes, typically resulting in an "easier drinking" wine, a method that is quite popular in Beaujolais), and aged in barrels.
Top producers include Diochon, Chateau des Jacques (Jadot) and the Chateau du Moulin-à-Vent.
Read the expanded Moulin-a-Vent article.
Shop Moulin-à-Vent in NYC.
Shop Moulin-à-Vent in SF.
Morgon
Of the 10 crus of Beaujolais, this is the closest to Moulin-à-Vent in terms of weight and structure, and it can age nearly as well. It has a firm minerality, thanks chiefly to its granitic soils, and a fruit profile that shades towards orange.
But, the chief advantage of Morgon is that it is blessed with an extraordinarily range of excellent producers. This includes all four of the “Gang of Four,” protégés of natural wine pioneer Jules Chauvet: Jean-Paul Thevenet, Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, and Guy Breton. All of these producers are excellent, and you should stock up whenever you see them available.
Another legendary producer is Chamonard. He too follows natural methods, but out of tradition, rather than the mentoring of Chauvet. If he had been imported by Kermit Lynch -- who is credited with coming up with the term "Gang of Four” -- it probably would have ended up a Gang of Five.
Still others make wonderful Morgon: Daniel Bouland, Louis Claude Desvignes, Georges Descombes, Mee Godard and Julien Sunier.
Read the expanded Morgon article.
Shop Morgon in NYC.
Shop Morgon in SF.
Fleurie
Outside of Morgon, Fleurie appears to have the greatest concentration of good producers throughout the 10 Crus of Beaujolais. And with particularly fine terroir, Fleurie is another great source of Cru Beaujolais. “Fleur,” of course, means “flower” in French, and indeed the wines of Fleurie are characterized by a distinct floral note – think violets.
The many excellent producers include Sunier, Dutraive, Domaine de Vissoux (Chermette), and Clos de la Roilette (Coudert). This village is also the principal source for Beaujolais superstar Yves Metras (and his son, now becoming a superstar in his own right, Jules). One of my very favorite but lesser-known producers is Chignard, who (until recently) worked exclusively in a plot of Fleurie that abuts Moulin-à-Vent, and the result is a very distinct, very mineral wine that drinks well young but also ages beautifully.
We would be remiss not to mention a current staff-favorite: Anne Sophie-Dubois, she's relatively new to the scene, but is making masterful wine. Seek that one out!
Read the expanded Fleurie article.
Shop Fleurie in NYC.
Shop Fleurie in SF.
Juliénas
Juliénas is another Cru known to be a little sturdier than the others and so can be aged. The wine’s signature profile is deep red cherries, which transform with a few years of bottle age into nuanced flavors that veer towards cassis.
There are not a lot of top producers, but there is one very important one, Clos du Fief (Michel Tête), that makes a Cuvée Prestige that is one of the best wines for aging from the region. There is also Haute Combe, which is perfectly cherry-fruited on the young side, but will also keep a few years.
In recent years we've seen some new Juliénas appearing on the market that are also worthy of attention. Chignard, mentioned above in the section on Fleurie, now produces a delicious and fairly serious Juliénas, as does Burgundy producer Armand Heitz and new Cru Beaujolais superstar Yann Bertrand.
Read the expanded Julienas article.
Shop Juliénas in NYC.
Shop Juliénas in SF.
Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly
As the word “Côte” implies (it's French for slope), the Côte de Brouilly lies on the side of a hill. Its neighbor, Brouilly (without the “Côte”), is at the bottom. Predictably, Côte de Brouilly tends to ripen better, and it produces a more structured, finer wine. Brouilly, meanwhile, produces a lighter style Beaujolais for early drinking; it makes frequent appearances in the every-day bistros that dot Paris, often served at cool temperatures in jugs -- one of the great delights of visiting Paris.
The top producer of Côte de Brouilly is the Chateau Thivin, which makes a very long-lived example (a 1985 Thivin is one of my all time greatest Cru Beaujolais bottles). Pierre Cotton and Alex Foillard are two new natural wine producers that make wines in both Brouilly and the Côte de Brouilly. Georges Descombes and Pierre Chermette both make straight Brouilly that is far richer and more complex than what is typical for the Cru.
Read the extended Cote de Brouilly & Brouilly article.
Shop Côte de Brouilly & Brouilly in NYC.
Shop Côte de Brouilly & Brouilly in SF.
St. Amour
St. Amour is the most northerly of the 10 Crus of Beaujolais, bordering the Mâcon region of Burgundy. At its best, St. Amour is an intensely red-fruited wine, bearing a bit of a resemblance to its much more expensive cousin to the north in Burgundy’s Chambolle Musisgny, Les Amoureuses.
The best examples here come from the Domaine des Billards, which makes both a forward, fruity version and an older-vines cuvee intended for aging. I tasted a 2005 in 2013, when I first wrote this article, and reported that it was still too young. Fortunately I had another bottle and when I opened it 2019 it was fabulous!
Yann Bertrand and Domaine de Vissoux (Chermette) also make fabulous examples.
Read the extended St. Amour article.
Shop St. Amour in NYC.
Shop St. Amour in SF.
Chiroubles
Chiroubles’ position within the 10 Crus of Beaujolais is unique, as it is at the very highest altitudes of Beaujolais and the grapes take about a week longer to ripen than elsewhere.
Chiroubles tend to have quite a bit of complexity, even as young wines, which makes the appellation a great source for Cru Beaujolais to drink young. To me, this complexity derives from a lovely velvety texture that is less obvious in the other Crus, as well as a floral note that is reminiscent of Fleurie.
Daniel Bouland makes a great example, as does Damien Coquelet. La Grosse Pierre is a fairly new producer that is focusing on single vineyard expression of Chiroubles, and their early vintages are very promising.
Read the extended Chiroubles article.
Shop Chiroubles in NYC.
Shop Chiroubles in SF.
Régnié
In the vineyard, Régnié is distinguished by its pink granite soils. In the mouth, it seems to have a slightly spicier profile than the other Crus. It’s a lovely wine in the right hands, but unfortunately there are not many famous examples. Descombes makes the best example. Also look out for wines from Guy Breton, a member of Morgon’s Gang of Four, and Antoine Sunier.
Read the extended Regnie article.
Shop Régnié in NYC.
Shop Régnié in SF.
Chénas
Chénas produces a tender wine that can age surprisingly well. You do not see it around much, as very few fine examples are imported to the U.S.
Domaine Piron-Lameloise makes a “Quartz” bottling that can be dazzling after about five years in the cellar. As the name suggests, the wine comes from distinct, quartzite soils. It has a mineral intensity that veers towards a Chablis-like iodine. Domaine Thillardon is a newish producer that is trying to put Chénas on the map with excellent single vineyard bottlings. Cristophe Pacalet produces a very nice-value Chenas that offers excellent early drinking.
Read the extended Chenas article.
Shop Chénas in NYC.
Shop Chénas in SF.
Read along as we break these down, Cru by Cru.
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Like this blog post? You can learn more about Beaujolais Crus here
- Part 2 is a focus on Moulin-à-Vent,
- Part 3 is a focus on Morgon,
- Part 4 is a focus on Fleurie and
- Part 5 is a focus on Juliénas.
- In Part 6 we look at both the Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly.
- Part 7 is Chiroubles,
- Part 8 is Régnié,
- And Part 9 finishes up with the two remaining crus, St. Amour and Chénas.
Read More:
An Introduction to the Wines of Beaujolais: Why Everyone Should Love Beaujolais!
Beaujolais has been one of our favorites since we opened Flatiron. There’s probably no region that we, the Flatiron staff, drink more regularly.
Here’s why:
It’s delicious!
It’s Versatile!
It’s interesting!
It’s a great value!
What is the difference between Beaujolais, Beaujolais Village, and the Beaujolais Crus?
The wines of Beaujolais are divided into three in three Classifications: Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, and Beaujolais Crus. Here, we delve into all the differences (and similarities!) that make these wines as lovely as they are diverse!
What is the difference between Beaujolais, Beaujolais Village, and the Beaujolais Crus?
The wines of Beaujolais are divided into three in three Classifications: Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, and Beaujolais Crus. We cover all you need to know about the differences and similarities of these incredible wines.
Beaujolais and the Rise of Natural Wines
20 years ago, “natural wine” was the freaky stuff drunk after-hours in Williamsburg and the East Village. Today, collectors around the world chase bottles of natural wine as passionately as DRC – and pay top dollar for some of them.
Where did natural wine come from, and how did it spread so far and so fast?
In a word: Beaujolais!
No wine region is more exciting right now than Beaujolais
Jeff Patten is one of the founders of Flatiron Wines. He has been buying and selling wine, and exploring wine country, for over 20 years, and drinking and collecting it for far longer. He is WSET certified (level 2).