I recently bought a case of wine for the first time in 15 years—a modest dozen bottles of Beaujolais—Domaine Foillard Côte de Py 2008, to be exact. The last time I bought a full case, I was in my early 20s. It was a Tori Mor rosé of Pinot Noir from Oregon sold to me on closeout for $6 a bottle. I brought it home, stuck it in the closet, and luxuriated in the thought that, for the first time in life, I would be able to pull out a bottle of wine to share at any time I wanted. It was rite of passage in my drinking life.

Since then, I’ve been too cheap to buy a full case. And there have been many times I’ve regretted it. So, on a number of levels, it felt really good to buy these 12 bottles of Beaujolais.
First, I’m always telling others to buy in quantity. If you taste a wine and really like it, you’re a fool not to buy at least a few bottles to stash. Also, if it’s an age-worthy wine, few things are more pleasurable than seeing it evolve over time, and to do this you need several bottles on hand.

Second, it’s nice to have a house wine at home—a good everyday wine that you won't make you feel as if you’re splurging if you crack a bottle open on a Tuesday night. A proper house wine is one you can confidently serve anytime to anyone, and one that could make an appearance at the end of a dinner party where other, more elegant wines have been featured, just in case you feel the night needs that extra bump.

Third, Beaujolais has been a region in crisis for some time. There are many reasons for this, but let’s just say that the wines can’t fetch prices high enough to warrant the effort that goes into making them. But lately, I've seen signs that this is the year Beaujolais may return to the limelight. Several important wine directors are showing more enthusiasm about good Beaujolais than I’ve seen in the past, people like Thierry Lovato of Zuni, Rajat Parr of RN74, and Chris Deegan of Nopa. They love the best examples, as I do, for their freshness, lack of oakiness or over-extraction, earthiness, and very real depth. Beaujolais has moderate levels of alcohol and tannin, which helps to make it such a wonderful wine to with all manner of foods. Besides, Beaujolais is the little brother of Burgundy, and not many of us can afford to drink Burgundy all the time.

Finally, the Beaujolais region is home to some of the most daring purists in the wine world today. When buying it, select by importer. You can’t go wrong with ones from Kermit Lynch, Neal Rosenthal, Louis/Dressner, or Robert Chadderdon. Most good local wine shops carry Beaujolais from at least one of these guys.

Oh yeah, and buy it by the case. It makes for a spot-on house wine.