Discovery / Wine Regions / Europe / France / Beaujolais
Europe · Follow the place
Beaujolais
North of Lyon, Beaujolais gives Gamay many addresses: regional wines, village wines and ten crus, with more to discover than the annual Nouveau celebration.
The wine-coloured dot marks a general location, not the legal extent of the wine region.
A wider view to put the region in context. Both maps face north.
First, find your bearings
Where are we?
Find eastern France, then Lyon and Mâcon. Beaujolais occupies the hills between them, west of the Saône. Villefranche-sur-Saône is a useful gateway, while the northern part of the vineyard brings the cru names into view. A map helps distinguish the wider Beaujolais region from an individual appellation bearing the same name.
From the place to the glass
Start with these conversations.
Gamay in several accents
Gamay is the leading red grape. A bright, fruit-led introduction and a more structured cru wine can both belong here. Whole bunches and carbonic or semi-carbonic methods are useful questions for the producer, rather than assumptions about every bottle.
Beaujolais & Beaujolais-Villages
These two appellations offer red and rosé wines from Gamay, as well as whites from Chardonnay. They also supply Nouveau wines. Nouveau is a particular early-release expression; it does not describe all the wine made under either name.
Ten crus, smaller places
Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Régnié, Morgon, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas, Juliénas and Saint-Amour are the ten cru names. Their wines are red. Start with two names and compare their producers’ accounts of place and method.
Regional tendencies are starting points. Vineyard, vintage, grower and winemaker all matter; a place name does not promise one flavour.
Look a little closer
A region has places within it.
Villefranche & the southern hills
Use Villefranche-sur-Saône as an orientation point. The southern landscape introduces the broader appellation and its villages; city location and vineyard origin remain different clues.
Morgon & Fleurie
These neighbouring northern cru names provide an approachable map exercise. Look at the actual vineyard and producer rather than treating an appellation’s typical tasting words as a promise.
Brouilly to Saint-Amour
Follow the cru belt north toward Mâcon. The ten crus are separate appellations, not ten grades in a ranking. Each name becomes more useful when tied to a specific bottle and place.
A name with a story
What the label can tell you.
Beaujolais can name the whole region or the regional appellation. Beaujolais-Villages is another designation, and a cru bottle may lead with its own name, such as Morgon. None of these words replaces the producer, vintage or winemaking information. Nouveau adds a timing and style clue. Read the complete label before deciding which comparison you are making.
A small Cork Dork discovery
Let the map join the tasting.
Find Morgon and Fleurie, then compare a producer description from each. Make one column for place and another for cellar methods. If tasting two Gamay wines, keep pour size, temperature and glass shape similar. Can you describe fruit, freshness and texture without knowing which cru is supposed to taste a particular way?
Small pours, your own words, and no marks for impressive vocabulary.
Where shall we wander next?
Follow a grape, or another place.
Behind this introduction
Editorial sources checked 23 October 2026. Maps use public-domain Natural Earth data. Regional markers are approximate; no legal appellation boundary is implied.