The SOB Cru Beaujolais Tasting

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Last night (June 16th) Lynn and I attended the Sons of Bacchus (and Daughters of Dionysus) tasting of Cru Beaujolais. Unlike Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages, the "Crus" are delimited Communal Appellations with distinctive terroir and microclimates. They are:

Brouilly

Chénas

Chiroubles

Côte de Brouilly

Fleurie

Juliénas

Morgon

Moulin à Vent

Réignié

Saint Amour

The grape is Gamay (also Gamay Noir) and it produces a typically fruity, medium bodied wine that is perfumed and very enjoyable to drink. We have fond memories of our soujourns in Beaujolais, the last time, in October of 2014 when we spent three nights at Château de Pizay in Morgon.

We tasted three flights of four wines. The rankings of the eleven tasters varied considerably, some ranked a particular wine first, another last. Overall, the scores had a range of only 3 or 4 points, very close. All the wines were good, ones that I would be happy to have on the table. Here are the rankings, with my notes and scores.

2013 Domaine des Chers Saint Amour - This is the wine I took to the tasting and it was a lovely.. Medium brick red colored, it possessed floral aromas of wild strawberries, red currants, and violets, with a velvety finish. I ranked this second overall, and found it very charming. 18.5+/20 points.

2012 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly - This was a striking wine. Medium brick red colored, it emited smoky aromas of blackberry, plum and cassis, with deep, direct ripe fruit flavors and a rich, earthy finish. The Côte de Brouilly is a high slope, and the wine's ripeness reflected this exposure. 18.5+/20 points.

2013 Domaine Pavillon de Chavannes Côte de Brouilly - It is interesting to note that two Côte de Brouilly wines came in the top three. It's a fine, although not well known, appellation. This one showed a light brick red color and lovely aromas of strawberry, Rainier cherry, crushed roses with silty medium bodied flavors. 18.5/20 points.

2011 Villa Porchagaso "La Reserve" Fleurie - Fleurie is typically perfumed and elegant, as was this one. It showed a medium brick red color with lovely scents of roses and violets and a charming mélange of red fruits, followed by a long, supple finish. This was my top choice. 19/20 points.

There were two other noteworthy wines, ones that I picked first in their respective flights, but didn't make it into the final flight. The rankings of all twelve wines were very close, though, so just about any wine could have been in the top group.

2009 Domaine de las Bruyierre Moulin à Vent - This was one of the most "Burgundian" wines of the tasting. Deep ruby colored, it emited rich smoky aromas of blackberry and cassis, with ripe, fleshy, minerally flavors. Well structured and balanced, I found this impressive. 19/20 points.

2011 Domaine de Gaudets Morgon, Côte de Py - This showed a brilliant cherry red color and an attractive nose of raspberry, cassis, red roses, violets. The flavors were thick, chewy and direct (typical of Morgon) with a long, satisfying finish. The aromatics gave it a plus. 18.5+/20 points.

This was a fine tasting of wines from a region that is not widely heralded. Thanks to Nina Buty for being a gracious host.

Correction (18 June) - I have learned that the final four rankings above is incorrect. First place was the Thivin Côte de Brouilly and the the de Chers Sain Amour second. There, however, was a difference in score between the two wines of ony one point, so it was a near tie.