Beaujolais
by Tom Wolf
I don’t know about you, but whenever my favorite bands or musicians appear on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, I can’t resist watching. The physical constraints of the office space force them to reimagine their songs, but what the musicians sacrifice in technological oomph, they add back in other creative ways. For example, while Bad Bunny’s studio and Super Bowl renditions of “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR” feature pulsing synths and digital snare drums, his Tiny Desk performance swaps these out for a piano, acoustic guitars, and bongos—the kind of instruments you’d picture him playing with friends in an intimate backyard party in Puerto Rico.
You might think of the 2024 vintage as the Beaujolais’ Tiny Desk Concert rather than its Super Bowl. These wines might not overpower you with the amps, light shows, and special effects of other recent, solar vintages, but they can still dazzle and charm you in other creative, elegant, and intimate ways.
2024 Beaujolais
France | Beaujolais
As much as we love the crus of Beaujolais, like the two below, exceptionally well-made regional reds can also deliver wonderful expressions of Gamay. And no one produces finer AOC Beaujolais than Ghislaine and Stéphane Dupeuble. Delicate, lithe, and floral, this red is brimming with bright aromas of cranberries, pomegranate, and turned earth, and is a great candidate for your next picnic.
2024 Moulin-à-Vent “Vieilles Vignes”
France | Beaujolais
If any wine proves the exception to the rule on this page, it is Domaine Diochon’s Moulin-à-Vent. Even though it has a bit more flesh and spine, it’s still a relatively delicate expression of this cru. Pour Diochon’s beauty the next time you grill a steak.
2024 Morgon “Vieilles Vignes”
France | Beaujolais
While Guy Breton has proved he can make beautiful reds across many different crus, Villié-Morgon is his home, and this is his flagship cuvée. Eighty-year-old vines and sandy, high-elevation slopes give this Gamay a little bit of depth, but even so, in 2024, the prevailing character is ethereal and racy, with zesty orange and bright cherry fruit. A bottle for the barbecue ice bucket!