Serving Beaujolais

Beaujolais was traditionally served in a special 46-cl/1 pint bottle known as a pot. European standardization may not approve of this but the essential point is that most Beaujolais is designed to be drunk rather than discussed or collected. This is the archetypal lubrication wine, and can be particularly gouleyant, or gulpable, if served cellar cool. Most Beaujolais has been drunk within a year of harvest, most Beaujolais-Villages within two, most crus within three, although traditionally vinified wines, particularly Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas, and Juliénas, from a good vintage can improve in bottle for up to ten and sometimes more years. The tendency with time, however, is for a serious old Beaujolais cru to taste increasingly like a red burgundy. The region was a cradle of the natural wine movement.