For a mass-market operation, Duboeuf serves up pretty good wine. But it is a world apart from the vignerons making wine from their own fields, in their own cellars, who are not cutting cloth to fit the fashions but are making the wines that they believe in. Most growers are reluctant to criticize Duboeuf, who seems to be held in high esteem, but they do not like to be lumped in with his methods.
Pierre-Marie and Martine Chermette of Domaine du Vissoux are based in St Verand in the southern end of the appellation, but they also own plots in the higher-status crus of Fleurie and Moulin-a-Vent. Doggedly, they keep yields low and scrupulously sort the grapes. They do not chaptalize, they use only the natural yeasts on the grapes rather than specialized yeasts that emphasize particular flavors and aromas, and they use very little sulfur as a stabilizer.
"You can't say we don't have problems," Chermette said, "but we've been at this since 1982, and we've got regular customers and good contacts."
Indeed, the best producers are not the ones who are hurting. Those with a history of making and bottling their own wine, like the Chermettes or like Michel Tete in Julienas, are holding their own. But for those who have depended on supermarket sales and negociants to move their wine, prospects are dimmer.
Growers everywhere like to talk about their old vines and their sustainable agricultural practices, but in the Beaujolais it is not always easy to know how to interpret this talk. Do they have old vines because they have guarded a precious holding? Or is it because they cannot afford to replace ones that have deteriorated? Do they practice sustainable agriculture for philosophical reasons? Or is it because they cannot afford to spray against weeds five times a year?
Against the background of crisis, those who have dedicated themselves to making top-quality wines offer a model for the future. They are the ones who, like Jean-Paul Brun, have taken risks and demonstrated that the public will notice. Brun's estate, Domaine des Terres Dorees, makes wine as naturally as possible, a process that requires great attention.
"You have to select grapes very carefully," he said. "You have to smell, smell, smell, and taste, taste, taste. There's always more risk."
The payoffs are wines of character and depth, and perhaps a public willing to listen to the wines.
"We're selling more and more," he said. "I think people are much more interested in Beaujolais, in the good people, at least."
WARNING: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.
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