Beaujolais

Beaujolais is the wine country north of Lyon, in the Rhône and Saône-et-Loire, named after the historical Province of Beaujolais, which took its name from the town of Beaujeu. Its reds are made from Gamay, a thin-skinned grape low in tannin, into light-bodied wines with fresh acidity; whites, made mostly from Chardonnay, are 1% of production. The Romans planted vineyards along the Saône valley, on the slopes of Mont Brouilly and around Morgon, and Benedictine monks kept up winemaking through the Middle Ages. The region is known for carbonic maceration and, since the 1980s, for Beaujolais nouveau. Administratively it is Burgundy, but its climate is closer to the Rhône.