Wine 8 min

Beaujolais

On Gamay, goblet pruning, and a man making great wine for little to no reward in the Bas Beaujolais

Beaujolais is first and foremost about pleasure. Its reputation has been nearly destroyed by Beaujolais Nouveau — but what the French know and we've forgotten is that Beaujolais is also an incredibly charming wine to drink.

François Subrin is an example of someone working incredibly hard at making an authentic expression of wine for little to no reward. When I visited he told us that the morale of the winemakers in Beaujolais is very low. Fifteen percent of the appellation has been ripped out because they can't make it work. In the last five to ten years there was a lot of suicide happening in the region. Pretty grim for a region that makes such joyous wines.

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