Beaujolais
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Beaujolais is a historical province and a wine-producing region in France. It is located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north of the Rhône département (Rhône-Alpes) and parts of the south of the Saône-et-Loire département (Burgundy). The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, and more recently for the enormously popular Beaujolais nouveau.
History
The historical capital of the province is Beaujeu and the economic capital of the area is Villefranche-sur-Saône.
Beaujolais Wines
The Beaujolais is a French AOC wine generally made of the Gamay grape. Like most AOC wines they are not labelled varietally. Whites from the region, which make up only 1% of its production, are made with Chardonnay grapes. Beaujolais tends to be a very light-bodied red wine, with relatively high amounts of acidity, making it ill suited for casual sipping.Generally speaking, a Beaujolais should be consumed within the first three years of its life in order to insure quality; only the wine produced by the best vintners improve with age for up to ten years.
Wines labeled simply "Beaujolais" account for 50% of the production. Beaujolais Villages makes up 25% of the region's production, and comes from better vineyard sites in and around the ten "crus" in the north part of the region. Wine from these individual crus, which make up for the rest of the percentage, can be more full-bodied, darker in color, and significantly longer-lived. Unfortunately, however, these wines do not usually show the word "Beaujolais" on the label, leaving one with little recourse but to memorize the list. The ten crus are the following: Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Saint-Amour, Chiroubles, Chénas, Fleurie, Juliénas, and most recently, Régnié. By far, the largest production comes from the négoçiant Georges Duboeuf, who makes the well-known "flower labels".
See also
External link
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