Beaujolais Villages

A clear step up from basic Beaujolais, Villages wines are still light, with the same pear-drop hint to the juicy red fruit, but are richer with more personality; they are well worth paying a little bit extra for. Beaujolais Villages can come from any of 38 named villages, all of which are based in the northern, hilly half of the region on granite soils. The best vineyards lie around Beaujeu, west of Régnié and Morgon.  As long as the wine comes exclusively from that village, estates can add their village to the Beaujolais name on the label (e.g. Beaujolais-Beaujeu) but since most Beaujolais Villages is sold by merchants, who blend together wines from several villages, this is quite rare.