Beaujolais and Thanksgiving: a classic pairing that works, especially if the wine is from one of the 10 cru villages of Beaujolais: Saint-Amour, Julienas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnie, Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly.

Wines from these villages are classified under their own appellation rules, so they never say “Beaujolais” or “Gamay” on the label, rather the village of origin (so helpful! ?). But that’s alright. We’ll break down why these wines are special and take a pictorial tour through one of France’s most beautiful wine regions.

We’ll sample three different wines from three different cru and explore the differences:

• 1 wine from a “lighter” cru such as Fleurie, Saint-Amour or Chiroubles
• 1 wine from a “moderate” cru such as Julienas, Régnié, Brouilly or Côte de Brouilly;
• 1 wine from a more “robust” cru, such as Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas or Morgon (especially the Côte du Py).

Plan on a budget of $70-$110 for the three wines. I will provide a list of recommended wineries upon registration. One ticket is good for a single log-in (so no need to buy two tickets if you are a couple).

About Your Instructor

Kevin Day is a wine writer and photographer and the founder of Opening a Bottle. He is an Italian Wine Scholar™ with Highest Honors as certified by the Wine Scholar Guild, of which, he is a member.

In 2019, Kevin was shortlisted as the “Emerging Wine Writer of the Year” by the Louis Roederer Wine Writers’ Awards. He has also been twice nominated for the Millesima Blog Awards in the Wine Reporter category. Opening a Bottle was also nominated for “Best Individual Blog” by the International Association of Culinary Professionals in 2019. He is also an accomplished photographer with images licensed through PhotoShelter.

Kevin is a regular contributor to SevenFifty Daily, an online magazine for professionals in the beverage-alcohol industry. He is based in Denver, Colorado.