The total vineyard area of the Beaujolais region is well over 15,000 ha/37,500 acres and includes nearly 100 communes with mâconnais on its northern boundary (indeed some vineyards may be classified as either Beaujolais Blanc or st-véran). The climate is temperate and semi-continental; snow may fall in the foothills of the Massif Central to the immediate west by the time Beaujolais Nouveau is launched, but summers are sufficiently hot for the local houses to have the shutters and gentle, tiled roofs of the south of France.
