September 16 2009 : The 2009 grape harvest in Beaujolais
We had perfect weather for it, with grape-pickers going busily and cheerfully about their work. The grape bunches are small, bursting with sunshine, a fine purplish black colour and exceptionally rich in sugar. The berries are thick and the seeds are a gorgeous amber colour, a sign of perfect phenolic maturity.
Around 50,000 grape-pickers have been hard at work across the 3000 vineyards in the Beaujolais since 4th September, picking bunches of our one and only grape variety, the Gamay.
When you see these grapes, on the ends of the vines, in the grape-harvesting tubs or hoppers, jumping about as they fall from the "porteur’s" basket, their brightness, intensity and above all their perfect health really are quite something to behold - we have not seen anything like this for a very long time indeed. As soon as you pick up a grape to crunch it in your hand, your fingers are covered in a sweetness of a kind which is rarely achieved.
As is always the case in hot summers when maturity is at its highest, we have an excellent sugar content, hence the high alcohol contents, reaching a peak with certain wines where the yields were very low.
As can be seen in the opposite photos, we have seen some juices go as high as 16° or 17° although obviously these are exceptions and, generally speaking, we have very good alcohol contents which will ensure that this is a perfectly balanced vintage. Analytically speaking the acidities are excellent and the PHs are perfect, although we are also finding genuine consistency across all quality levels of the 2009 harvest in Beaujolais.
The grape harvest was due to finish this weekend with the weather still perfect: a northerly wind and plenty of sunshine.
The general opinion among all winegrowers and wine professionals in Beaujolais is that we have never seen such healthy grapes. August was exceptional and September rounded things off with excellent, perfect maturity of a kind that has never been equalled in the Beaujolais appellations.
Starting out with such good conditions, we have achieved a level of quality which has rarely – if ever – been matched. So we need to analyse the exceptional vintage which we now present for your drinking pleasure somewhat differently from the wines produced over the last few years, casting a very special but very watchful eye over it.
Colours :
In its opulent robe 2009 managed to capture all the colour of the hottest summer seen over the last fifty years, featuring a crimson with sparkling glints of a purplish black.
You can glimpse the opulence and unique, amazing personality of this vintage as soon as you pour the wine into a glass as smooth drops slide down the sides of the glass, reflecting a wonderful texture.
Aromas :
The unusual feature of this 2009 vintage is the expression of a complex, generous palette of aromas. Rather than just the dominant scent of a particular fruit there is a very wide range of aromas of dark fruit: blackcurrant, black cherry and blueberry, and here and there you will pick up on a few spicy notes with hints of vanilla, cocoa and mocha. Some wines - often fermented at very low temperatures - offer aromas of very ripe strawberries, redcurrant jam and sometimes vine peaches.
Palate :
In the mouth, the first impression you get is of the generosity, smoothness and fullness of this 2009 vintage. Although the aromas are wonderfully long on the palate, there then comes a perfect sense of harmony as the roundness comes out with slightly spicy notes and, above all, you notice the presence of elegant, silky tannins. With such density, a wonderful concentration and a fascinating texture, this 2009 vintage gives us all the excellence of the very best Beaujolais wines of the last fifty years.
So I can confirm that the 2009 vintage is the best of the 9’s.
Greetings from Beaujolais.
Le Beaujolais Nouveau
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