Beaujolais-Villages AOC

The Beaujolais appellation was recognised by decree on 12 September 1937. Producers in the northern communes, whose wines were generally more powerful and age-worthy than the lighter, fruitier wines of the south, sought an appellation of their own. In 1943 a list of 31 communes allowed to add their name to Beaujolais was published, and on 21 April 1950 those 31 communes were grouped into one unit under the Villages mention. Inter Beaujolais calls Beaujolais the first, in 1950, to officially use the term to designate a specific part of its AOC; a guest article on JancisRobinson.com calls it the first appellation in France to have used the term. The Château de Montmelas, which overlooks the Villages vineyards, dates back to 977, when it was the residence of the Lords of Beaujeu. The monks of Cluny helped develop vineyards on many of the hillsides later classified as an appellation. The legal birth of Beaujolais Nouveau came with an administrative note of 13 November 1951, and release to consumers on the third Thursday of November dates from 1985.

• 1937: decree recognising AOC Beaujolais; 1943: list of 31 communes allowed to add their name; 21 April 1950: those communes grouped under the Villages mention
• Château de Montmelas was restored in the Gothic Revival style in the 19th century by the Lyon architect Louis Dupasquier
• Beaujolais Nouveau: administrative note of 13 November 1951; third Thursday of November release from 1985

Beaujolais-Villages occupies the northern half of the Beaujolais zone, in the departments of Rhône and Saône-et-Loire. Its steep vineyards face east-south-east and surround the ten crus; Inter Beaujolais gives their altitude as 200 to 500 metres in one place and 190 to 550 metres elsewhere on the same page. Vines for the Villages mention are planted only on acid soils in the north of the zone, on Palaeozoic bedrock or the Quaternary deposits derived from it. INAO's cahier des charges credits these sandy soils from crystalline rock with allowing balanced, harmonious wines with long aromatic persistence. The appellation's soils are gneiss, blue stone, sandstone, shale and granite. The climate is a degraded oceanic one with continental influences, and the Monts du Beaujolais to the west shelter the vineyard from westerly winds.

• The whole Beaujolais zone lies between 180 and 550 metres; Inter Beaujolais places the Villages vineyards, facing east-south-east, at 200 to 500 metres
• Northern bedrock: granites, porphyries, schists and volcano-sedimentary rocks from the Hercynian uplift, weathering into acid sandy or clay soils
• The Monts du Beaujolais block westerly winds, and their foehn effect dries the oceanic air, reducing cloud and rainfall

Red and rosé wines come from Gamay as the principal variety, with small permitted shares of accessory varieties, and white wines come from Chardonnay alone. Gamay covers 97% of the 13,500 hectares claimed across the 12 Beaujolais AOCs, and Gamay noir à jus blanc is a natural cross of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc. Growers habitually use a typically Beaujolais vinification inspired by semi-carbonic maceration to preserve fruit, and vines are mostly short-pruned in the gobelet system. Harvesting in Beaujolais-Villages is mostly done by hand.

• Accessory varieties for red and rosé: Aligoté, Chardonnay, Gamay de Bouze, Gamay de Chaudenay, Melon, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir
• Inter Beaujolais describes the wines from the southern part of the appellation as easy-drinking and fruity, those from the central area as richer and structured, and those from the cru area as more robust and round
• INAO's cahier des charges describes Villages reds as deeper in colour than plain Beaujolais, with a powerful, structured and harmonious palate

The Beaujolais-Villages production area surrounds the ten crus, which run from north to south as Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly. Brouilly is the southernmost cru, and Inter Beaujolais lists it at 1,200 hectares and Morgon at 1,090 hectares; Morgon's Côte du Py is made up of decomposed shale. Moulin-à-Vent, which a guest article on JancisRobinson.com calls the "most highly rated of all the Beaujolais crus", covers around 620 hectares on pink granite with manganese, and Inter Beaujolais calls its wines full-bodied and fleshy. Chiroubles has the highest vines in Beaujolais, between 270 and 600 metres, and Chénas is the smallest appellation in Beaujolais by surface area, at 250 hectares. Régnié's AOC decree is dated 8 December 1988.

• Inter Beaujolais lists Brouilly at 1,200 ha and Morgon at 1,090 ha; a guest article on JancisRobinson.com covering the 2010 vintage gave 1,327 ha and 1,126 ha
• Morgon's Côte du Py is made up of decomposed shale; Morgon's most-claimed lieux-dits include Côte du Py, Aux Charmes, Corcelette and Grands Cras
• Moulin-à-Vent sits on pink granite with manganese and spans the communes of Romanèche-Thorins and Chénas; Chénas, at 250 ha, is the smallest cru

Inter Beaujolais counts more than 1,000 winegrowers working Beaujolais-Villages, half of them in private cellars. INAO's cahier des charges records the wines labelled Villages or with a commune name as made by 1,900 growers, 9 cooperative cellars and a few négociant wineries. The first cooperative cellars appeared at the end of the 1920s, followed by a second generation in the 1950s that helped improve quality across the region.

• Wines labelled Villages or with a commune name: about 3,700 ha and nearly 200,000 hl a year, made by 1,900 growers and 9 cooperatives
• The cahier also gives 6,300 ha and an average of 350,000 hl for vineyards making wines under the Villages mention
• Inter Beaujolais calls Villages white and rosé wines rarer and often in high demand among connoisseurs

Villages yields are set at 58 hl/ha for red and rosé and 66 hl/ha for white, with ceilings of 63 hl/ha and 73 hl/ha. Minimum natural alcohol is 10.5% for red and rosé and 11% for white. The Beaujolais name may be followed by the name of the commune the grapes come from, and a registered lieu-dit may appear on the label in type no more than half the size of the appellation name. Only the Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages AOCs can produce Beaujolais Nouveau in red and rosé. Fleurie submitted its premier cru application to INAO on 22 November 2023, with official submissions for Brouilly and Moulin-à-Vent in 2024, and recognition of premier cru lieux-dits is targeted by 2035.

• Yields of 58 hl/ha for red and rosé and 66 hl/ha for white; plain Beaujolais is allowed 60 hl/ha and 68 hl/ha
• Minimum natural alcohol of 10.5% for red and rosé and 11% for white; producers may add the name of the commune the grapes come from
• As of July 2024, growers had proposed 7 lieux-dits in Fleurie, 16 in Brouilly and 14 in Moulin-à-Vent as premier cru candidates

The 140-kilometre Beaujolais Wine Route continues from the Burgundy Wine Route and runs through the Beaujolais-Villages growing area, with its villages and steep vineyards. Suggested stops include Beaujeu, the historic capital of Beaujolais, Vaux-en-Beaujolais, the priory at Salles-Arbuissonnas-en-Beaujolais and the mediaeval castle of Montmelas. Inter Beaujolais, the interprofession, is based in Villefranche-sur-Saône, and Beaujolais became a UNESCO Global Geopark in April 2018.

• The 140-km Beaujolais Wine Route runs past the ten crus and through the Villages area before finishing in the Pierres Dorées country
• In Beaujeu, the route's sights include Saint Nicholas Church, the Beaujeu hospices and the remains of Beaujeu Castle, demolished in 1611
• Château de Montmelas, nicknamed 'Sleeping Beauty's' Château, overlooks the Villages vineyards

Primary sources (INAO and Inter Beaujolais): https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/PNO-cdcBeaujolais-cn220210.pdf, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/beaujolais-villages/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/discover/nos-12-appellations/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/about-us/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/legal-notice/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/cepage/gamay/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/a-world-for-every-beaujolais/pur-terroir-by-beaujolais/the-beaujolais-vineyard-a-mosaic-of-soils/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/beaujolais/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/2024/07/25/futures-beaujolais-premiers-crus/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/moulin-a-vent/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/chiroubles/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/brouilly/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/morgon/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/appellation/chenas/, https://www.beaujolais.com/en/visit/the-beaujolais-wine-route/. Secondary sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/beaujolais-current-facts-and-figures, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/beaujolais-fleurie-premier-cru-plan-backed-by-winemakers-502633/. Last verified 2026-10-05