The Beaujolais Challenge - Chiroubles

Chiroubles? Honestly, have you ever tasted a bottle of Chiroubles? I never had until the other night. I probably could not have named Chiroubles as one of the cru Beaujolais appellations until this self-imposed challenge. I'm glad I know about it now, as the wine we tasted was just lovely, a quintessential Beaujolais.

Like I said, I don't have much of anything technical to share with you - I really don't know sh*% from Chiroubles, but here is what I can share with you (most of it from Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson's books): Chiroubles is right next to Fleurie and Morgon, two of the better known areas in the region, and it is the highest appellation in Beaujolais with vineyards at about 400 meters of elevation. Both Jancis and Johnson say that wines from Chiroubles are light, fresh, fruity, and made for young drinking.

The only producer mentioned by both Jancis and Johnson is Domaine Cheysson, and that happens to be the wine I found. My pal Adam and I enjoyed this wine out on the deck with a couple of scallion omelets and a salad of baby lettuces, candy stripe beets, and string beans.

2005 Domaine Cheysson Chiroubles, $20 (Chambers Street Wines).
Pretty dark ruby color. The nose is closed down at first, showing only rusty wet iron and just hinting at blackberry. With about 15 minutes open and some swirling the nose opens to reveal sweet blackberries and bright cranberry. The wine is quite light and fresh on the palate, as advertised. There is a nice balance of light and elegant berry fruit, and after another 15 minutes or so an earthy underbrush flavor shows itself underneath the fruit. Great juicy acidity and prominent iron minerality are part of every sip. This wine is interesting and delicious and it was great with our light summer dinner.

Is this wine a good value at $20? There are plenty of cheaper Beaujolais out there that are equally satisfying (although maybe not as complex) - the Beaujolais-Villages by Vissoux I tasted earlier, to name only one. If you are someone who likes Beaujolais enough to keep a couple of bottles of Beaujolais around the house for every day drinking, there are others that you might turn to. But if you are interested in exploring Beaujolais, this is definitely a worthwhile bottle. It was an excellent wine and well worth your $20. Do you want to spend $20 on the Beauj if you can spend $13 - that's your call. I like geeking out on obscure appellations like Chiroubles though, as evidenced by this whole Beaujolais Challenge thing, so I feel like it was money well spent.

How much did I spend on my bottle of Regnie, and was it any good? You'll have to wait, holding your breath I'm sure, for the next installment of the Beaujolais Challenge.

Before you go, tell me - have you ever tried a Chiroubles? Did you like it?

Correction - this wine was $16 at chambers Street, not $20. That changes everything in my mind, as there is no question that for a few extra bucks, this wine is well worth the step up from the two previous wines tasted in this series. It's the complexity, while remaining light and refreshing that does it.