Régnié
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Régnié is one of the ten Beaujolais crus, and the last to be given this status in 1988 by the the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine. The Régnié vineyards cover an area of 620 hectares around the village of Régnié-Durette in the south of the Haut-Beaujolais region of Eastern France. The vines are around 32 years old and of the Gamay variety, unique to the Beaujolais region. Their grapes are handpicked to ensure they are kept whole for the carbonic maceration stage of the fermentation process, resulting in the characteristic fruity quality of Beaujolais wines. The harvesting and wine production is undertaken by around 120 separate vineyards in the area, whose combined output is 35,000 hectalitres, equivalent to 4.6 million bottles.
Vine cultivation in the area is thought to go back to Roman times, as the ruins of a Gallo-Roman villa belonging to a nobleman named Reginus have been found nearby. This gives Régnié the longest history of viticulture in Beaujolais, along with its fellow cru Julienas.
