Inter Beaujolais organises a structured professional tasting each spring for wine journalists, importers, and trade buyers, covering all ten Crus in the new vintage. International press interest has grown through the 2010s and 2020s.
Tip: This is a trade and press event; consumers can access many of the same producers at their domaines during the same week when open-cellar tastings frequently run in parallel.
A convivial wine bar in the centre of Villefranche-sur-Saone with a strong Cru Beaujolais and natural-wine list, communal seating, and plates to share.
The list: Central Beaujolais wine bar focused on Cru and natural-wine Gamay by the glass, with a list skewed toward small growers from Morgon, Fleurie, and Moulin-a-Vent
Tip: The most accessible evening wine-bar stop in the Beaujolais capital; ask what they have open by the glass that is not on the written list.
A Villefranche-sur-Saone wine bar with background music and a grower-Beaujolais list, popular with local vignerons on market days.
The list: Wine bar with background music and a Beaujolais-focused list, popular among growers and cellar workers as an after-work venue, particularly on market and harvest days
Tip: Wednesday and Saturday market mornings in Villefranche bring growers into town; the afternoon and evening that follow are the liveliest times at the town's wine bars.
Hotel bar in Villefranche-sur-Saone with a year-round Cru Beaujolais lounge list and late opening hours.
The list: A hotel bar in Villefranche-sur-Saone functioning as a year-round lounge for Beaujolais Cru by the glass, with a deeper Moulin-a-Vent and Morgon list than most town bars and a comfortable settee-heavy layout
Tip: The Nouveau Lounge is the latest-opening wine venue in Villefranche centre; useful as a nightcap destination after a dinner without a serious wine list.
The extended evening session of the annual Fete des Crus, allowing late-visit tasting of all ten Crus at the producer stands after the daytime trade crowds have gone.
The list: The annual Fete des Crus in April extends its first-day programme into the evening with a full producer-floor tasting session that allows visitors to taste all ten Crus by the glass in a late-afternoon-into-evening format
Tip: The evening session of the Fete des Crus is less crowded than the midday rush; arrive after 18:00 when the professional trade buyers have left and growers are more relaxed.
Villefranche aperitif bars serving Beaujolais Blanc petillant and Crémant de Bourgogne by the glass as the early-evening sparkling pour before dinner.
The list: Several Villefranche bars serve Beaujolais Blanc petillant and light Crémant de Bourgogne as the aperitif standard in the early evening; a pre-dinner sparkling glass in the town centre is the local start to any Beaujolais evening out
Tip: Beaujolais Blanc is made from Chardonnay grown on the limestone edges of the southern appellation; the petillant style is informal and low-cost compared with Crémant, and works well as a pre-dinner aperitif.