Beaujolais

Beaujolais ( boh-zhə-LAY, French: [boʒɔlɛ] ) is a French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) wine in the Burgundy region. Red Beaujolais wines are generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannin, but like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites, 1% of production, are made mostly with Chardonnay, though Aligoté was also permitted until 2024. Beaujolais tends to be a very light-bodied red wine, with relatively high acidity. In some vintages, Beaujolais produces more wine than the Burgundy wine regions of Chablis, Côte d'Or, Côte Chalonnaise, and Mâconnais put together. The wine takes its name from the historical Province of Beaujolais. It is located north of Lyon, in the departments of Rhône and Saône-et-Loire. While administratively part of the Burgundy wine region, the climate is closer to that of the Rhône, and the wine is sufficiently individual in character to be considered apart from Burgundy and Rhône. The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, for the use of carbonic maceration, and more recently for the popular Beaujolais nouveau.