Years in “6
For me, and perhaps for you too, the curiosity lies in reviewing what happened in previous years in the Beaujolais region… Since Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1799 Consulate, the “6” vintages have produced few exceptional years. On our land in Corcelles-en-Beaujolais, we were fortunate to have Elisé Portal, a famous winegrower poet, who was able to record harvests up to 1965. The following data are compiled by Elisé Portal, supplemented by David and Foillard, négociant in Saint Georges de Reneins, then updated by Dominique Piron, vigneron in Morgon.
We’ll let you judge for yourself the quality of the years in 6 since 1906…
1906 – Wines from 12 to 13 degrees, 80 F each. Good harvest. remarkable quality, full-bodied wines with beautiful color.
1916 – War. Average and current year.
1926 – Frost, mildew, worms. Poor in all respects.
1936 – Cold, damp, frost, 400 F a piece. A mediocre year overall.
1936. INAO validation of Chénas, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Moulin à Vent and Morgon appellations
1946 – Normal year, 1,400 F a piece. Average quantity and quality.
1946. INAO validation of the Saint Amour appellation
1956 – Winter frost in February, 25,000 F a piece. Poor year, mediocre wine.
1966, death of Elisé Portal, poet and winegrower in Corcelles, (1916 – 1966)
1966 – A good vintage, but harvested too early. Excessive greenness, violent hail storm over Villié-Morgon on the night of September 12/13, at 1 a.m., destroying a large part of the appellation two days before the harvest. Quite good quality overall in the other appellations. Fairly easy to market. 50,000 hl of Beaujolais Nouveau.
1976 – Heat and drought, no water from a little snow in April to the end of August. It was the year of the drought tax! Some wanted to harvest around August 20, but overall the harvest began at the very beginning of September, with a few hailstorms. Remarkable wines, atypical, tannic, firm, depending on harvest date and vine exposure. Some 76s have never evolved and remain typical of this drought. 1,600/2,200 F each.
1986 – Abundant harvest, around September 20. Complicated sanitary conditions. Average vintage with fruity, pleasant wines; 600,000 hl of Beaujolais Nouveau.
1996 – Very dry year with high yields. A very well-balanced vintage with a tendency to acidity. Harvest around September 10. Forgotten grapes kept for a long time. Good vintage
2006 – Cold, wet winter, late spring and rainy August. A difficult year to manage, but in the end a good vintage with harvesting around September 10.
2016 – Mild, wet winter, terrible hailstorms on May 27 and June 24, from Beaujeu to Moulin à Vent. A heterogeneous vintage but with some great wines. Harvest around September 20.
2026 – History is yet to be written…
