Beaujolais - Régnié: Way Under the Radar

Beaujolais series 12 / 14

By Stuart Pigott – last revision: 22.04.26

Vineyard Area: 388 hectares (2024)

Proportion of Total Production: 3% (2024)

Appellation Established: 1988

PART ONE: Not Even the Wrong Side of the Tracks

For a while Régnié enjoyed the advantages of being the New Kid on the Block amongst the Beaujolias Crus, to which it is the only new addition during my time as a professional wine journalist (from 1984). However, when the crisis came at the beginning of the 21st cenutry it took a tumble, and it’s now the member of this club of 10 members with the lowest average vineyard price:just below Euro 20,000 per hectare. Of course, this reflects and confirms the fact that the wines are not easy to sell.  When you consider how many Régnié wines conform with the world’s expectation of Beaujolais - bright fruit, sleek and crisp - and often have plenty of character too it’s astonishing just how far under the radar Régnié is. No surprise, that the best wines are bargains.

If we then turn to the best wines produced here it’s quite extraordinary how misaligned beauty and fame are. However, that seems to me to be a non-Beaujolais specific feature of our times in which the approval of a single influencers can result in a stampede by thousands to reach whatever the New Epicentre of Coolness before its 15 minutes of fame are over. Anything that fails to attract this kind of attention is doomed to remain just another part of the vast Shadowland of Uncoolness. And it is in this vast and amorphous region that Régnié has landed. Who was to blame for this? Nobody specific, as far as I can see. Did the appellation lose momentum? My guess is that the positive changes just didn't reach the critical mass that's necessary to attract the kind of attention I'm giving the appellation.

No wonder the producersof Régnié are planning a "relaunch" for the appellation, and this might even work, precisely because for the great majority of consumers Régnié is a blank sheet of paper waiting for something to be written upon it.

PART TWO: The Dyanmic Trio Ride into Town

One factor that has made this situation intractible is that the best producers all have vineyards in other Crus, meaning appellations like Morgon, Fleurie, Brouilly that are easier to sell. Both professional customers and regular wine drinkers tend to go for these and, I think, that they often assume Régnié is somehow second best to them. Thankfully there's a Dynamic Trio who's wines exciting enugh to stand a chance of shooting down the preconceptions.

The closest to a Régnie-focused domaine with excellent quality is Domaine Les Capréoles, founded in 2014 by Cedric and Catherine Lecareaux. Theirs are simultaneously amongst the most distinctive and the most elegant wines of the appellation. Since I first encountered these wines they impressed me every single time I tasted or drank them, and given how different recent vintages were this really shows how precisely the Lecareauxs are working in the vineyards and cellar.

Philippe Viet was in banking and IT consulting for 15 years before he made a major course correction and headed to Beaujolais. His determination is that of the outsider who’s come in commited to lifting his new home up out of its present near invisibility. And his confidence comes in part from knowing that he’s made a good start with that task. His wines all have as strong a personality as he does, not least because he isn’t afraid of tannins, acidity, generous or low alcohol. Philippe’s a thinker, a strategist, an artist and a humble winegrower, which is quite a combination.

Domaine de Vernus is also very young haveing been fouded in 2019 by Frédéric Jametton, who made Guillaume Rouget, the son of Burgundy’s famous Emmanuell Rouget, winemaker right at the beginning. Although the estate house is in Régnié-Durette the cellars are a few kilometers away in Langtignié and each time I visited them this was one of the most exciting tastings of my trip to Beaujolais. I think having a Burgundian winemaker does exert an influence on these deep and well-structured wines, most obviously on their wonderful balance and complex texture. Either way, they need some time in bottle to reach their best as the still youthful and energetic Domaine de Vernus Régnié Vernus 2021 shows.

If you still have doubts about the potential of Régnié for top quality wines then you MUST try one or two wines from the Dynamic Trio. And, as you can see from the notes belo,  there are enough other good producers working in this appellation that there’s something exciting to write on that blank sheet of paper!

21 wines tasted, three with 96 and two with 95

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PART THREE: Message in a Bottle, Message in a Bottle!

2024 REDS

Château De Pizay  Régnié  2024 – 13% / Brimming with bright cherry fruit this has nice freshness on the light body, there’s more weight at the finish, but also rather drying tannins. 88 (SP)

Domaine les Capréoles  Régnié Chamodère  2024 – 13% / At once fragrant and delicately earthy, this is a complex and sophisticated wine with an integration of refined red berry fruit and powdery tannins that’s a beauty to behold! Not super-concentrated, much less bold or weighty, but I find the dry elegance at the very long, precise finish compelling! 94 (SP)

Domaine les Capréoles  Régnié Sous la Croix  2024 – 13% / How can you resist the refined sweetness of the black cherry and black raspberry aromas of this masterpiece? At once concentrated, deeply structured and very velvety, this is just beginning to slowly open up. Incredible depth at the extremely long, super-elegant finish! 96 (SP)

Domaine de Colette  Régnié  Vieilles Vignes  2024 – 13% / Beautifully ripe black cherry and blackberry fruit for the 2024 vintage! Also excellent balance of juiciness and velvet tannins on the very well-balanced palate. Definitely not light, but the crispness of the finish gives it an attractive lightness of touch. 92 (SP)

Domaine Dutheil  Régnié  Cuvée Vieilles Vignes  2024 – 13% / This successful expression of the appellation marries gentle tannins with deep red and black fruit flavours plus a touch of earthy and savoury complexity. More elegant at the velvety finish than most wines of the vintage. 91 (SP)

Domaine Dutheil  Régnié  Fût de Chêne  2024 – 13% / Although the smoky oak is quite obvious, on the front and mid-palates this has a wealth of beetroot and blackberry flavours. Quite a solid, tannic finish with plenty of smoke and balsamic vinegar character. 92 (SP)

Domaine de Vernus  Régnié  2024 – 13% / Super-fresh with joyful redcurrant and red cherry aromas, but this is also winey and well-structured, crisp and energetic with a delicate minerality underlining the finish. Matured 40% matured in used Burgundian oak and 60% in tank. 93 (SP)

Domaine de Vernus  Régnié Les Vergers  2024 – 13% / A very serious wine for this underrated appellation with great mineral power packed into a rather sleek body. Very focused, super-fresh finish with so much drive. Mature in used Burgundian oak. 94 (SP)

Domaine de Vernus  Régnié Vernus  2024 – 13% / A great Régnié with enormous depth and finesse! Compact and concentrated, the mineral freshness at the finish dazzling. Needs some years in bottle to fully open up, but this has fabulous aging potential! Matured in used Burgundian oak. 96 (SP)

Sandrine Henriot  Régnié Lachat  2024 – 12% / The deep fruits rouge character of this youthful wine enable it to easily balance the crisp acidity and slightly sappy tannins. Not elegant, but certainly expressive and energetic! 90 (SP)

Famille Mélinon  Régnié Chastys  2024 – 13% / The effusive raspberry and strawberry fruit gives this plenty of up-front appeal, but the structure is quite light. Some interesting savoury character at the slightly tart finish. 89 (SP) 

D. Piron  Régnié  2024 – 13% / Very bright nose of strawberry and redcurrant with a note of savory. Starts quite sleek, but this a core of restrained tannins with notes of wild herbs and wet stones. Some minerality at the crisp finish. 92 (SP) 

Philippe Viet  Régnié Py de Bulliat  2024 – 12.5% / Cool, crisp and sleek with quite some acidity this needs a moment’s aeration for the bright red berry fruit  to emerge. Long, emphatically dry finish with some stony minerality. Made from bought-in fruit, therefore not Domaine on the label. 90 (SP)

Domaine Philippe Viet  Régnié Haute-Ronze  2024 – 11.5% / This energetic and super-fresh Régnié screams strawberry at you! Behind this is a surprisingly solid tannin structure that makes this taste a lot bigger than it really is. Velvet finish! 92 (SP)

Les Vignes en M (Maxime Malard)  Régnié  Temporalis  2024 – 12.5% / I love the way the wild berry and herb aromas leap out of the glass at you. Juicy and expressive with a silkiness that makes it stand out. Moderately dry finish. 91 (SP)

Les Vignes en M (Maxime Malard)  Régnié Vernus  2024 - 13% / Give this self-confidently funky wine (from reduction) some time in the glass to unfurl its banner, because all the berry reds are saturated. However, from the beginning the silky texture is striking. Long, delicately warm and dry finish. 93 (SP)

2023 REDS

Domaine Ruet  Régnié Les Bois  2023 – 12.5% / A substantial and structured wine for the appellation in spite of the moderate alcohol, this has a solid core of velvet tannins wrapped in cassis fruit. Long, compact and savoury finish with a touch of roasted meat character. 92 (SP)

Domaine Philippe Viet  Régnié Haute-Ronze  Mosaique  2023 – 14% / The interplay of forthright red, black and blue fruit aromas with savoury and autumnal elements makes this a fascinating wine. However, on the palate the full integration of fine-grained tannins, bright acidity and stony minerality will take some time. Crisp, long finish. 93 (SP)

2022 REDS

Domaine de Colette  Régnié Clos des Buyats  Monopole  2022 – 13% / Concentrated and densely structured this has a wonderful vitality freshness for the vintage.  Yes, there are notes of liquorice and charcoal, but the bright side wins through, and the tension between light and dark is very exciting right through the very long, driving finish. 95 (SP)

2021 REDS 

Domaine de Vernus  Régnié Vernus  2021 – 13% / Cool, mineral and floral, this is a super-expressive 2021 that leaps and bounds over your palate. Dazzling freshness on the totally focused and intensely stony palate. However, if you don’t like perceptible acidity in red wine then this probably isn’t for you. Still enormous aging potential. 96 (SP)

2020 REDS

Domaine Philippe Viet  Régnié Haute-Ronze  2020 – 14% / I love the freshness of the floral and beetroot aromas. On the palate there’s some of the balsamic density that marked many of the wines from this vintage, but the mid-palate concentration and the energy at the moderately dry finish are impressive. From three plots at the top of this site, one with 100 year old vines. 94 (SP)