Grape secrets of Beaujolais

The famous red wine of Southern Burgundy Beaujolais accounts for less than 1.5 per cent of global wine production but the name has far greater recognition, the general manager of Inter Beau-jolais said in an interview with Drinks Business magazine.

“We need to ensure that the world understands that we have many unique terroirs for Gamay (the red Gamay grape is used exclusively in the production of all red Beaujolais wines, including its cru) and can relate to this through the broad diversity of our wines,” added Jean Bourjade.

Inter Beaujolais is therefore increasing its efforts to engage with consumers via clearer communication of the relationship between the Gamay grape, the Beaujolais region and its crus, along with renewed emphasis on the quality and value inherent in its more mature cru wines.

The company is doing this by getting producers to actively feature Gamay on the labels of their Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages wines – a move that is increasing visibility on the labels of several leading estates.

“We are aware that Gamay is still relatively unknown among consumers, so we are encouraging producers to use the grape variety on the (back) label to raise understanding that Beaujolais is the natural home of the world’s best expressions of the variety,” Mr Bourjade said.

Producers are also being pushed to promote the region Beaujolais on cru wines, which typically carry little obvious reference to their relationship with the wider Beaujolais appellation.