" Beaujolais is not dead »

How are the regional appellations of Beaujolais: Beaujolais and Beaujolais - Village? In a national and international context of crisis in the wine world, where vineyards are being uprooted in many regions, it can be said that the Beaujolais is not doing so badly after all. Returning to the "regional" situation, we can first observe a slowdown in vine uprooting between 2024 and 2025, with "only" about a hundred fewer hectares in 2024, in Beaujolais, but, for the first time in a long time, a slight gain of about thirty hectares in Beaujolais - Villages. In short, the gamay is far from being "dead and buried" and continues to be particularly popular with exporters, since these two appellations, which represent slightly more than half of the production area, account for three-quarters of exports. In short, the crus are sold in France and the "regional" wines are exported.

And the region is no short of assets. The gamay which produces these fruity, fresh, concentrated but not overly concentrated, balanced red wines that consumers love and that pair well with all cuisines, and it is obvious that the Beaujolais also has a card to play in white wines. Burgundians shouldn't panic. Chardonnay, when it is intended for the production of still wines, today (2025 harvest) only represents 534 hectares in production in the Beaujolais, which is less than 5% of regional production and only in AOC Beaujolais and Beaujolais - Villages The wines remain 100% red. A lot of water is likely to flow under the bridge before Chardonnay represents nearly two-thirds of regional production, as in Burgundy. Nevertheless, the winegrowers of Beaujolais highlight their white wines, which are generally sold at a higher price (while remaining very, very affordable…) than their regional reds and sometimes even more than many crus. In this red wine region, producers have had to develop a culture of white wine production; it seems to us that the quality of these whites from Beaujolais is becoming more and more convincing with each vintage and on this point, the 2024s are very successful (see buying guide on the following pages).