Coteaux Bourguignons, France 2018 (£8.50, Marks & Spencer) Is Beaujolais part of Burgundy? A lot of Burgundian winemakers don’t like the idea that it might be. Their reasoning is pragmatic, but coloured with snobbery. Burgundy has a jealously guarded reputation for making some of the world’s finest wines, while Beaujolais is still associated in many minds with the banana-and-bubblegum simplicity of its ‘big in the 1980s’ nouveau wines. Still, the two (one?) region’s vignerons have been co-habiting in a single appellation since late 2011. The appellation stretches from the Auxerrois north of Chablis to Beaujolais in the south, although many of the examples I’ve encountered in the UK tend to be Beaujolais in all but name, such as M&S’s free-flowing, blackberry-juicy version made from the region’s trademark gamay grape.
Louis Latour Les Pierres Dorées, France 2017 (from £17.89, The Drink Shop; Wine Direct) Not all the Beaujolais-alikes produced under the Coteaux Bourguignons label are pure gamays. A number, while certainly sharing the sappy, light succulence you’d expect from a Beaujolais, mix it up with pinot noir – a blend that works well in the vibrant Loron & Fils Duc de Belmont Coteaux Bourguignons Rouge 2017 (£12.49, or £10.99 as part of a mixed case of six bottles, Majestic) with its red and blackberry charm. The Coteaux Bourguignons name is also useful for those of us with the taste, but not the bank balance for Burgundy pinot noir. Certainly, the pinot noir vines planted by Burgundy producer Louis Latour in Beaujolais have yielded a red wine with the kind of prettiness and subtle herby-earthiness that would cost much more with a Burgundy village on the label.
Domaine Grivot Coteaux Bourguignons, France 2016 (£22.50, House of Townend; Laithwaite’s) The Coteaux Bourguignons isn’t all about red wine. Far from it. Winemakers can make effortlessly charming rosé from gamay, such as the softly textured Louis Jadot Coteaux Bourguignons Rosé 2017 (from £12.99, Penistone Wine). And the same firm, Louis Jadot, also has a good-value white, Louis Jadot Coteaux Bourguignons Blanc 2017 (£12.04, as part of a case of six bottles, Fine Wine Services), which it makes from chardonnay blended with aligoté, for a wine that combines ripe apples and lemon. The best wine I’ve tried from the appellation is, however, a red that embodies the best of both regions: made by one of Burgundy’s greatest producers, Domaine Jean Grivot, from old gamay vines in Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits, it’s captivatingly pretty and pure and a fraction of the price of a Grivot pinot.
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