Premium Wines

In the 1980s, the California-based wine consulting and management company of Gomberg, Fredrickson & Associates established a hierarchy of wines according to price. The hierarchy includes four levels of premium wine—Popular Premium ($3-$7), Mid Premium ($7-$10), Super Premium ($10-$14), and Ultra Premium ($14-$25).

What are Cru Beaujolais?

A. Beaujolais from the best vineyards.

B. Beaujolais that are aged for at least a year in French oak.

C. Beaujolais from selected villages.

D. Beaujolais from what historically have been the top producers (the “cru”).

The Cru Beaujolais refers to wines from ten distinguished villages. (Interestingly enough, in most of the rest of France, the word cru refers to a vineyard.) Most of these villages are in the north of the region on steep granite hills. Cru wines are deeper, denser, more structured and more age worthy than regular Beaujolais. The ten Cru are: St.-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Although Beaujolais Nouveau will be released next Thursday, we recommend you drink the far better Cru Beaujolais to celebrate the region.

Watson, Meet Robert Parker

Scientists in Australia have invented a so-called “electronic tongue” that can analyze and measure compounds in a wine and then mathematically formulate a “fingerprint” of the wine. According to Dr. Xavier Ceto Alseda, a research… Continue reading

Get WineSpeed