Winery list for Beaujolais Villages

Many French regions highlight the best performing areas of the general AOC. In Beaujolais, as in the Rhône, they do so a smaller zone of production...in this case, 38 villages. In fact, the Beaujolais region pionecred the "Villages concept in 1950 adding the word "Villages" which represents.

As mentioned, 38 villages are permitted to use the Beaujolais Villages appellation (10,220 acres/4,136 ha). Of the 10,200 acres/4,136 ha dedicated to Beaujolais Villages production, only 151 acres/61 hectares is Chardonnay. Red and rosé Beaujolais Villages follows the same field blend rules as for Beaujolais.
Beaujolais Villages differentiates itself from regional Beaujolais in that it is more densely pigmentecd and displays less overt grapiness and deeper berry fruit. Beaujolais Villages is slightly more tannic and possesses a solid core of minerality. This minerality manifests due to the presence of granite in the Beaujolais Villages.
White Beaujolais Villages is also 100 Chardonnay and tend to be slightly more concentrated in flavor than regional Beaujolais; deeper, richer more supple on the palate, it mirrors white Macon in style.

Note: Hand-harvesting is the norm for Beaujolais. Machine harvesting is autlhorized but only by request (but never for Beaujolais Nouveau...which must be harvested by hand)