The race to bring back the new beaujolais vintage started off as friendly rivalry between Clement Freud and wine merchant Joseph Berkmann. 1972 saw Atticus diarist Allan Hall extend it to England. With the official release date of 15 November came the first invasion of planes and boats and trains. Led in France by Georges Duboeuf and his glamorous cohorts of chefs, musicians and film stars, the nouveau phenomenon epitomised what the gamay grape was all about: a juicy, cherryish red with no delusions of grandeur. It was simply a jolly good drink everyone could enjoy with a saucisson.

That was before the nubile young red from north of Lyon was defiled by producers blinded by greed and a wine trade cynically using it as a route into Christmas. By the 1990s, the novelty had worn as thin as the wine. Derided as what one critic called a vin de merde (crap wine), beaujolais was supplanted in our affections by the New World promise of better reds with more flavour.

According to Jasper Morris, MW, who has put together an offer of ‘real’ beaujolais for Berry Bros. & Rudd, ‘the wretched Nouveau, such a brilliant marketing idea at the outset, has ended up as a form of homeopathic inoculation against Beaujolais – one small dose in November and you don’t have to touch the stuff for the rest of the year. This is a tragedy for those still making exciting wine of quality and durability’. There’s the rub. We have the curate’s egg of nouveau to thank for blinding us to the revival of good beaujolais, the best of which tends to come from Beaujolais-Villages and the ten crus, or appellations.

Based on the exceptional 2009 vintage, Berry Bros. offer (bbr@bbr.com) mingles lighter styles pleading to be drunk on warm summer days for their refreshingly juicy properties with richer, more serious styles that need time. In the former category, the 2009 Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes, from Alain Chatoux, £9.95, has the requisite thirstquenching raspberryish character of a good young beaujolais, as too does the fragrant and vibrantly dark cherryish savoury depth of the 2009 Côte de Brouilly, Clos Bertrand from Château Thivin, £15.50 and the delightfully floral 2009 Fleurie, Les Moriers from Michel Chanard, £14.95.

In contrast, the spicy, strawberryish Juliénas Les Paquelets, Vieilles Vignes, from Eve and Michel Rey, £15.50, and the red fruits-centred Moulin-à-Vent, La Roche, from burgundy’s Thibault Liger-Belair, £189 a case in bond, are powerful, serious reds needing time to blossom. Elsewhere, from Domaine Rolland, the 2009 P.Ferraud et Fils , around £10.50, Hercules Wine Warehouse (www.herculeswines.co.uk), Thomas Panton (www.wineimporter.co.uk), is a seamlessly cherryish example of fine gamay. At The Wine Society, the 2009 Juliénas, Maison Trenel et Fils, L’Esprit de Marius Sangouard, £9.50, is in similar mould, perfumed, with violety scents and powerful, black cherry fruit.

The high street too is getting its beaujolais act together, with the 2009 Beaujolais Villages from Cave du Château Les Loges, £5.98, Tesco, a summery quaffing style the French like to call gouleyant. At Majestic, the 2009 Morgon Château de Pizay, £8.99, buy 2 = £6.99, is a dark cherried, spicy gamay with mouthwatering acidity. In its summer list, Waitrose has an aromatic, lively and pristine red fruited gamay in the 2009 Brouilly, Henry Fessy, £9.99. Is it wishful thinking to imagine that beaujolais really is on the brink of a renaissance? For its and our sake, let’s hope not. Anthonyrosewine.com

Something For the Weekend 19 June 2010

Under a Fiver

House Merlot

The brand new House own-label has just been launched by Sainsbury’s as ‘a great introduction to the world of wine’. This is one of the better reds, a pleasing, affordable, non-vintage bbq red that’s spicy and fresh with cherryish sweetness. £3.49, Sainsbury’s

Under a Tenner

2009 De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc, Durbanville, South Africa

Smoky, herbal sauvignon in Sancerre mould, this is a dry white with typical capsicum character, cooling ocean breezes contributing to a tangy freshness. £5.99, reduced from £9.99 from Monday to 4 July in Oddbins World Cup promotion.

Splash Out

2007 Domaine Heresztyn Vieilles Vignes, Gevrey-Chambertin

This vivid, perfumed Waitrose stalwart from Florence Heresztyn in the Côtes de Nuits region of Burgundy displays succulent mulberry and raspberry-like fruitiness and a delicate touch of spicy oak within an elegant framework of silky-textured pinot noir. £25.99, Waitrose.