AppellationChénasA Rare Pedigree
A ruby red wine with garnet tints and floral aromas, Chénas is a full-flavored, full-bodied wine. It features spicy, woody hints and is often described as “a bouquet of flowers in a basket of velvet.”
For Wine Geeks
On the appellation’s rugged northeast slopes, Gamay grapes are grown on just one square mile, producing the rarest of the Beaujolais Crus. This fine, sophisticated wine needs a few years of bottle age to achieve perfection. In just under one square mile, about100 growers produce an average 1.5 million bottles of wine a year.
For Showoffs
The area was once filled with dense oak forests, which were gradually cut down. Under orders from Philippe V, vines replaced the trees on the slopes of Mont Rémont. During the Ancien Régime, the region’s aristocracy fought hard over the local lands in Chénas, due to the substantial revenues brought in by the vines. In the 18th century, Chénas was well known for exporting its highly valued wines to Paris, where it was the favorite wine of Louis XIII.