USA Bojo Tour Recap! (November 2023)
It had been six years since our last winemaker trip to the U.S. High time then, for Ryan and I to bring some of our Beaujolais all-stars to the USA—Elisa Guerin, Pierre Cotton, and Raphael St. Cyr—to a few of our favorite East Coast markets: Atlanta, Maryland, and NYC/NJ!
We kicked off our tour in Atlanta—one of our most dynamic markets—with both of our distributors, Rive Gauche Wine Co. and Bon Vin Selections, co-hosting a Masterclass for all three winemakers.
We classified a selection of Raph, Elisa, and Pierre’s wines in order of increasing percentage of granite in the soil:
| 1 | Elisa Guerin | Beaujolais Villages | blue schist + limestone |
| 2 | Yann Bertrand | Saint Amour ‘Les Bambins’ | mica schist, sandstone scree |
| 3 | Saint Cyr | Morgon ‘Les Charmes’ | red schist + white granite |
| 4 | Saint Cyr | Chénas ‘Les Blémonts’ | sandy granite |
| 5 | Elisa Guerin | Chiroubles | sandy pink granite |
| 6 | Yann Bertrand | Fleurie ‘VV’ | sandy granite, acidic soils |
| 7 | Elisa Guerin | Moulin-à-Vent ‘Les Thorins’ | sandy strata ‘gohra’, decomposition of granite, sandy, clay, iron oxide |
| 8 | Bonnet-Cotton | Brouilly | loamy soils + granite |
| 9 | Bonnet-Cotton | Côtes de Brouilly | blue diorite (intermediate between low. high silica granite) |
| 10 | Saint Cyr | La Galoche Blanc | clay-limestone |
Notable Atlanta Wine shop empire Perrine’s Wine Shop hosted a seated class with each of our winemakers and they all visited accounts around Atlanta.
Just a few hours of sleep later, Ryan, Raph, and Elisa headed to BWI for visits in Baltimore and Annapolis with our mid-atlantic distributor, Free Run Wine Merchants.
Meanwhile, Pierre and I landed in Brooklyn to hang with John McCaroll to record an episode of Disgorgeous. (Thank you, John, for actual hard-hitting questions to which I’m still thinking of the answers…)
On Thursday, after some Brooklyn hangouts with Cory from Mission Wine Merchants, who briefly transplanted to NYC to see the gang, the Bojo crew went to Vinegar Hill House for a 12-wine paired dinner with a small table of lucky guests.
On Friday, Flatiron Wines hosted us for a walkaround tasting followed by a team dinner with the whole Coeur Wine crew at House of Joy in Chinatown. We paired Chinese food and Gamay, they blinded us on Muscaris-based wines from around the world, and much joy ensued.
Last but certainly not least, we were thrilled to meet the team at Neighbors Wine Shop in South Orange, NJ for a consumer tasting. Neighbors are incredible supporters of the Paris Wine Co. book and Raphael, Elisa, and Pierre were particularly impressed with the questions from the Gamay enthusiasts at the walkaround.
We capped off the trip with a rooftop tasting at Vicki’s UES apartment, using whatever reserves of energy remained to eat cheap pizza and taste samples. Perfect ending to an intense trip—and all just a few days before Beaujolais Nouveau Day!