Is Beaujolais part of Burgundy? Yes? No? Maybe? This question is actually shockingly tricky to answer.

"Is Beaujolais part of Burgundy" is a common question that seems to confuse a lot of people. Hell, if you search for an answer you'd get like a bunch of different and conflicting answers.

• Wikipedia says yes ("Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) wine in the Burgundy region.")
• Wine-searcher says no ("Beaujolais, spiritual homeland of the Gamay grape and best-known for its young-release Beaujolais Nouveau red wines, is a red and white wine appellation just south of Burgundy in central eastern France")
• Wine Folly says it used to be ("The French wine region of Beaujolais has long been considered part of Burgundy, but today it charts its own course.")

The actual answer, is well, both yes and no. Let me try to maybe break it down a little bit.

1. Geographically/Politically, Beaujolais is (mostly) not Burgundy

France is divided into regions, the same way America is divided into states, or Canada is divided into provinces. Burgundy is now part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. While most of Beaujolais is Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. There might be a few vineyards on the border who's address fall on the other side of the line though.

2. The BIVB, Burgundy's regulatory authority, doesn't cover Beaujolais

You can see it on the rough about us map: https://www.bourgogne-wines.com/gallery_images/site/30476/72971/72973.jpg

No Beaujolais!

3. Most of Beaujolais no longer qualifies for Bourgogne Rouge or Bourgogne Blanc appellations.

Between 1937 – 2011, Beaujolais produced had the right to sell their wines under the Bourgogne AOC. This was mostly irrelevant with regards to reds, (Bourgogne Rouge requires 85%+ Pinot Noir, Beaujolais doesn't have many Pinot Noir plantings), but it was a major point of debate with regards to Chardonnay – Chardonnay is the primary white grape in Beaujolais, and in 2011, most of Beaujolais was excluded from Bourgogne Blanc, and a new Beaujolais Blanc appellation was created. A few villages and vineyards were grandfathered in though.

4. But almost all of Beaujolais produces grapes that could qualify for "Vin de Bourgogne"

Beaujolais doesn't have a cremant or Aligote appellation. And both Cremant de Bourgogne, and Bourgogne Aligote appellations cover Beaujolais. There's also Coteaux Bourguignons, a very loose appellation that covers all of Beaujolais and almost all the grapes grown in Beaujolais.

If a Beaujolais producer produces a wine from one of these appellations in Beaujolais with grapes grown in Beaujolais, they are fully entitled to put "Vin de Bourgogne" on the bottle.

5. And then there's the weird appellation Bourgogne Gamay.

Bourgogne Gamay is the weirdest of the appellations. It is a "Bourgogne" appellation, that qualifies the wine to be labeled "Vin de Bourgogne" on it, that is 100% made from Beaujolais grapes. The area that qualifies for this appellation is 100% in Beaujolais, and not in Burgundy. So here's a Bourgogne appellation that can only be made from grapes from Beaujolais.