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Everyday Excellence
Everyday Excellence
by Dustin Soiseth by Dustin Soiseth
Cru Beaujolais Sampler
Cru Beaujolais Sampler

Harvest at Château Thivin

Petit Max Breton

Bernard Diochon

Nicole Chanrion

Valentin Montanet of La Soeur Cadette
France | Beaujolais
Normally $175.00 SPECIAL SAMPLER PRICE $140.00 (a 20% discount) |
This item does not take further discounts
I love Beaujolais for the following reasons: balance, versatility, and value. I call these qualities the Three Pillars of Beaujolais. Wines from this region can be exuberantly fruity, but in the best examples, the fruitiness is always complemented by an equal measure of earthiness and acidity, which, for me, maintains balance. Fruity without being cloying, substantial without being heavy, and above all, refreshing. Guy Breton’s elegant Régnié has this balance, as does the charming Juliénas from Valentin Montanet at La Soeur Cadette. It’s a beautiful thing.
Thanks to its light to medium body, Beaujolais is a versatile partner with all kinds of different cuisines. This is handy because, let’s face it, sometimes you want wine with dinner but dinner wasn’t necessarily chosen with wine in mind. I’ve paired Nicole Chanrion’s classic Côte-de-Brouilly will all manner of things—sushi, Thai, carnitas tacos— and it comes through every time. I switch to the Thévenet Morgon if the food’s a bit richer. A good Beaujolais, chilled down just a little, will serve you well in many situations.
Lastly, the value of Beaujolais is hard to beat. Jean-Paul Thévenet and Guy Breton are legends in the region, yet their wines still sell for under forty bucks. Diochon’s Moulin-à-Vent and Château Thivin’s Brouilly—benchmarks for their respective appellations—go for even less. And they’re delicious to boot! Wines of comparable stature from Burgundy or Bordeaux would easily cost twice as much—and would not pair nearly as well with tacos.
2017 Régnié • Guy Breton $32.00
2017 Moulin-à-Vent “Vieilles Vignes” • Bernard Diochon $26.00
2018 Morgon • Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet $37.00
2017 Côte-de-Brouilly • Nicole Chanrion $23.00
2018 Brouilly “Reverdon” • Château Thivin $26.00
2017 Juliénas • La Soeur Cadette $31.00

Harvest at Château Thivin

Petit Max Breton

Bernard Diochon

Nicole Chanrion

Valentin Montanet of La Soeur Cadette
A good Beaujolais, chilled down just a little, will serve you well in many situations.
Normally $175.00 SPECIAL SAMPLER PRICE $140.00 (a 20% discount) |
More from this Producer or Region

2018 Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
A generous dash of plump, sun-ripened fruit enveloping a granite core

2024 Morgon “Vieilles Vignes”
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If Beaujolais were Burgundy, we might consider Morgon to be Vosne-Romanée, with its haunting perfume and silky texture, the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove.

2024 Beaujolais-Villages
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This drinks like a Gamay infusion with lovely hints of potpourri, spice, and fresh grapes.

2024 Régnié “Grain & Granit”
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Here is a rich, bold Régnié, saturated with luscious fruit and earthy spice.

2023 Côte de Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
August Club Gourmand ~ Brambly and mineral, this bottling exudes both the convivial charm of Gamay and the crunchy intensity of the Côte de Brouilly.

2023 Côte-de-Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
Loads of fun—juicy, round, structured, yet always elegant and focused. A classic favorite.

2024 Beaujolais MAGNUM
France | Beaujolais
This Beaujolais offers the drinkability of the most effusive Morgons with the frankness of a chiseled Moulin-à-Vent.

2021 Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
A generous dash of plump, sun-ripened fruit enveloping a granite core.

2023 Morgon “Cuvée Corcelette”
France | Beaujolais
Sweet, earthy fruit and sensuous, velvety texture.

2022 Côte de Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
A relatively new addition to Guy Breton’s Beaujolais lineup, this exuberant Côte de Brouilly is flat-out delicious.
About The Region
Beaujolais
After years of the region’s reputation being co-opted by mass-produced Beaujolais Nouveau and the prevalence of industrial farming, the fortunes of vignerons from the Beaujolais have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. Much of this change is due to Jules Chauvet, a prominent Beaujolais producer who Kermit worked with in the 1980s and arguably the father of the natural wine movement, who advocated not using herbicides or pesticides in vineyards, not chaptalizing, fermenting with ambient yeasts, and vinifying without SO2. Chief among Chauvet’s followers was Marcel Lapierre and his three friends, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, and Jean-Paul Thévenet—a group of Morgon producers who Kermit dubbed “the Gang of Four.” The espousal of Chauvet’s methods led to a dramatic change in quality of wines from Beaujolais and with that an increased interest and appreciation for the AOC crus, Villages, and regular Beaujolais bottlings.
The crus of Beaujolais are interpreted through the Gamay grape and each illuminate the variety of great terroirs available in the region. Distinguishing itself from the clay and limestone of Burgundy, Beaujolais soils are predominantly decomposed granite, with pockets of blue volcanic rock. The primary vinification method is carbonic maceration, where grapes are not crushed, but instead whole clusters are placed in a tank, thus allowing fermentation to take place inside each grape berry.
Much like the easy-going and friendly nature of many Beaujolais vignerons, the wines too have a lively and easy-drinking spirit. They are versatile at table but make particularly good matches with the local pork sausages and charcuterie. Though often considered a wine that must be drunk young, many of the top crus offer great aging potential.
More from Beaujolais or France
2022 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
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2023 Chénas “Chassignol”
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2023 Morgon “Cuvée Corcelette”
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2023 Côte de Brouilly
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2022 Côte de Brouilly
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2021 Côte de Brouilly
Alex Foillard France | Beaujolais
2024 Morgon “La Roche Pilée”
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2024 Régnié “Grain & Granit”
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2023 Chénas “Les Blémonts”
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2023 Fleurie
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2022 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
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2023 Chénas “Chassignol”
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2023 Morgon “Cuvée Corcelette”
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2023 Côte de Brouilly
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2022 Côte de Brouilly
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2021 Côte de Brouilly
Alex Foillard France | Beaujolais
2024 Morgon “La Roche Pilée”
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2024 Régnié “Grain & Granit”
Jean Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2023 Chénas “Les Blémonts”
Domaine Thillardon France | Beaujolais
2024 Beaujolais Blanc
Domaine Dupeuble France | Beaujolais
2023 Fleurie
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2021 Beaujolais Blanc “Terrain Rouge”
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Where the newsletter started

Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch