The Beaujolais wine industry is dominated by a few négociants who produce nearly 90% of the wine sold outside the Beaujolais region. The largest are Maison Louis Jadot and Bouchard Père et Fils, who you can also visit in Beaune. There are thousands of vineyard owners in Beaujolais but only a small amount is bottled and sold overseas by individual winemakers.

E.Guigal

E.Guigal is the most famous producer in the region and is the table wine in France producing 40% of the entire appellation as well as other other appellations Condrieu. St. Joseph, Crazes Hermitage. Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas.

Georges Duboeuf

4 centuries ago, the Duboeuf family was producing wine in the Mâconnais region. George Duboeuf's business produces more than 2.5 million cases of wine annually and almost single-handedly responsible for popularizing the annual Beaujolais nouveau phenomenon.

Beaujolais is made entirely from Gamay. While there are 21 different allowable wine grapes able to be planted in the Cotes du Rhone, the dominant red wine grapes are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Carignan.

Terroir

Beaujolais

Beaujolais has one of the richest and most complex geologies in France and became the 7th UNESCO Geopark in France. The Beaujolais wine region encompasses over 300 different soils sitting on 500 million years of geological history. This is why each appellation has a distinct character, especially given that Gamay is the only grape variety used in the Beaujolais region for producing all the red wines. The region benefits from a mild climate with relatively low rainfall eventhough there can be extreme heat and storms. Most of the slopes in the Beaujolais region face south or east and benefit from long hours of sunshine and good light from spring to autumn. The Upper Beaujolais mountain chain protect the vines and attracts the foehn – warm air from the west that has a warming and drying effect in summer similar to Alsace.

Condrieu

The rare wines made in the AOC Condrieu are exclusively white, from the Viognier grape, along a 9 mile stretch overlooking the Rhone river. They are characterised by delicate aromatics of peaches, dried fruit and white flowers. The wine is full bodied, rich in a style similar to Chardonnay and meant to be consumed young to retain its fruity characteristics.

Saint Joseph

St Joseph is primarily a Syrah red wine made with softer tannins and a dry light style. The soil consist of light schist and gneiss over a granite bedrock and gets less sunlight and heat than AOC Condrieu. These wines were a favourite of Louis XII.

Cote Rotie

Syrah and Viognier are the two main grape varieties of the AOC Côte-Rôtie The vineyards are located in Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône, Ampuis, and Tupin-et-Semons with steep slopes facing the river. The best Cote Rotie wines are medium to full bodied wines with a silky texture. Côte Rôtie means roasted slope in French, a highly appropriate name for many of the south-facing vineyards, which benefit from maximum exposure to the sun's rays.

History

Beaujolais was first cultivated by the Romans who planted the areas along its trading route up the Saône valley. The most noticeable Roman vineyard was Brulliacus located on the hillside of Mont Brouilly and Morgon. From the 7th century through the Middle Ages, most of the viticulture and winemaking was done by the Benedictine monks. From 957, the region got its name from the town of Beaujeu, and was ruled by the Lords of Beaujeu until 1265. The region finally came under the control of the family d'Orleans in 1626 when the winegrowing area continued to grow and picked up speed in the 19th century with the arrival of the railroad system.

Beaujolais Wine Adventures

Departing from Lyon, our overnight tours are for those who would like to discover some of the marvels of the region combining tastings, vineyard visits, castles, and villages that may remind you of being in Tuscany. The Beaujolais, wine producers are dominated by a few négociants who produce nearly all of the wine sold outside the region. We'll visit the most famous and some of the small artisanal wineries.

Multi Region Journeys