Home / Summaries / D3 Reading: Wines of the World / beaujolais-winemaking-maceration

Study Cards on beaujolais, winemaking, maceration

Q: Two styles of winemaking in Beaujolais

Semicarbonic & carbonic maceration extracts colour (very purple) and aromas (pear drop, banana, kirsch, bubblegum) with limited tannin. whole bunch for fruity wines to be released early Traditional red wine making method destemming, crushing, fermentation and maceration on the skins may be aged in barrels Burgundian style for Cru Beaujolais wines

Describe the two wines (Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru Jadot & Fleurie G. Duboeuf) under the following headings:

a) Climate and soil
b) Viticulture and grape varieties
c) Vinification
d) Scale of production and quality of wine

High results

Two styles of winemaking in Beaujolais

Semicarbonic & carbonic maceration

extracts colour (very purple) and aromas (pear drop, banana, kirsch, bubblegum) with limited tannin.
whole bunch
for fruity wines to be released early

Traditional red wine making method

destemming, crushing, fermentation and maceration on the skins
may be aged in barrels
Burgundian style
for Cru Beaujolais wines

Beaujolais winemaking techniques vary to the traditional techniques, maceration times also vary. Can you describe these per style (appellation) of wine?

Beaujolais/Beaujolais Villages: 4-5 days
Beaujolais villages (premium quality): 6-9 days
Cru Beaujolais: 10-20 days; grapes alternatively destemmed and crushed, fermented like most red wines. Burgundian in style.

What is Carbonic maceration and where is that the most practiced way of winemaking

Carbonic maceration is a winemaking process which transforms a small amount of sugar contained in uncrushed grapes into ethanol without the intervention of yeasts.

Two pioneers of low intervention winemaking in Beaujolais