On a snowy evening last week, curious passers-by stopped to stare through the big windows of Artisanal, the modish bistro on East 32nd Street. Inside, standing front and center, was a group of men and women wearing oversized green aprons under red buttoned, black cutaway jackets, and round, flat crowned black hats with green bands. One held a statue of Saint Vincent, another an enormous wine bottle. They looked like the sort of folks Dorothy might have encountered on the Yellow Brick Road.

One by one, six normally dressed inductees stepped forward. After reciting an oath and swigging down the contents of an oversize, wine-filled silver cup, each inductee was tapped on the shoulder with an ancient, gnarly grapevine root. Thus they were initiated into the New York chapter of the Ordre des Compagnons du Beaujolais. The sole purpose of the organization, founded in the Beaujolais region of France in 1948, is to gather quarterly for the induction ceremony and awarding of its “Best Bistro Cup” to such worthy spots as Artisanal. Then it’s time for dinner, liberally lubricated with bottles of … well, you can guess what. In keeping with the friendly disposition of Beaujolais, which seems never to have met an imbiber it didn’t like, the only requirement for membership in des Compagnons is to fill out the application form and, to paraphrase Woody Allen, show up. (An application form can be downloaded at www.compagnonsdubeaujolaisny.com.)

Beaujolais has a problem unique in the wine world. On the third Thursday of each November, its Nouveau wine, barely two months off the vine, is spotlighted upon its worldwide release. But once the hoopla ends, it’s easy to neglect Beaujolais, or even to dismiss this unpretentious wine altogether – which is a shame, since that 2-month-old bottling, for all its vivid and uncomplicated flavor, is only the first phase of what Beaujolais can become.

Little attention is paid when the finer, more slowly vinified “non-Nouveau” wines of the same vintage begin to appear on retail shelves each April, more than half a year after the harvest. First to arrive is wine labeled simply Beaujolais or Beaulolais-Villages, sourced mainly from the southern portion of the region, where clay soils predominate. The best wines come from 10 villages, or crus, in northern Beaujolais, for which they are named. These crus get their special character from hills rich in granite and schist. The most light-bodied and graceful come from Saint Amour, Fleurie, and Chiroubles, the deepest and slowest to mature from Morgon and Moulin-a-Vent. This last wine is said to get its fortitude from its proximity to an abandoned manganese mine.

While the soon-to-arrive 2004 Beaujolais vintage is only middling in quality, it’s backed up by several superb vintages that remain widely available and are in their prime. Between 1999 and 2003, only the 2001 vintage is to be avoided. As for 2003, a brutally hot European summer brought an early harvest of superbly ripe, but not overripe, Gamay fruit; the best from 2003 top all previous versions in my memory. For a maximum of Beaujolais’s signature strawberry and raspberry fruit, for example, I’ve always counted on Chateau de la Chaize, the biggest property in the village of Brouilly. Served to Les Compagnons with a roast duck a la Beaujolais and papardelle at Artisanal, the 2003 vintage positively sang with those flavors. Yet it also had an intensity and velvety depth of texture that to me was unprecedented in Chateau de la Chaize.

The previous dish, a Beaujolais fondue, was matched to a Julienas, Domaine Le Cotoyan, 2002, made by the merchant wine firm M. J. Vincent. In keeping with that less showy vintage, the wine was more subdued than the Chateau de la Chaize. But it had a spicy, curranty core, as well as complexity not normally associated with Gamay. “Being a negociant, Vincent made this wine from purchased grapes rather than from his own vineyard,” said Roger Dagorn, sommelier at Chanterelle as well as a Grand Conseiller of Les Compagnons, who rose to give an appreciation of each wine served. “In this case, however,” Mr. Dagorn pointed out, “the vineyard is owned by Mr. Vincent’s own sister.”

While basic Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages, slightly chilled, are fine for no-thinking drinking – as at a cookout, say – it makes sense to buy only the crus for the dinner table. Modest pricing of these wines makes that easy to do. The very finest Beaujolais cru, in fact, can be had for well under to just over $20, which is only the starting price for basic reds of the Cote d’Or, 50 miles to the north. Of course, those wines are made from pinot noir, a grape capable of leaving gamay as well most other grapes behind when at its best. That said, time in the bottle can give the finest Beaujolais crus the sort of subtle, berry and earth richness that can fool you into thinking you might actually be drinking Burgundy.

How long can a top Beaujolais cru give pleasure? To answer this question, I called the king of Beaujolais himself, Georges Duboeuf, who makes rivers of the stuff at all quality levels. The same question had been broached a few years back, Mr. Duboeuf told me, by Frank Prial, veteran wine critic for the New York Times. Mr. Prial soon arrived in Beaujolais to seriously explore the question. “We went to ‘Les Platanes’ in Chenas,” said Mr. Duboeuf. “A very good, very sympatique bistro. It was a perfect June day and we ate outside on a shaded terrace. We wanted to find out if old Moulin-a-Vent was really different from the other crus, so we tried all 10. The oldest were the 1945 and 1947 Moulin-a-Vent. They were both fabulous, with aromas of vanilla and black fruit and even chocolate – very different from what we normally find in Gamay. It was a grand moment for us. Frank preferred the 1945, while my choice was the 1947.”

Those two vintages, Mr. Duboeuf noted, were exceptional because they came from postwar vintages with small yields of thick-skinned grapes that gave intense flavor concentration. “A little like the 2003 vintage,” he said.

One could do worse than take that hint from Mr. Duboeuf. The 2003 Beaujolais crus are a buying opportunity. And, if you have a cellar, they are that rare vintage worth laying down.

Recommended Wines

CHATEAU DE LA CHAIZE 2003 ($9.95) As described above, this is a Brouilly paradigm from a lovely chateau built in 1676 by Pere de la Chaize, confessor to Louis XIV. Widely available, and always at Sherry-Lehmann (212-838-7500).

JULIENAS, DOMAINE LE COTOYON, 2002 ($12.99) Vinified in stainless steel only, this wine is, as noted above, spicy, even peppery, lively, and pure tasting. At Beacon Wine & Spirits (212-877-0028).

MORGON, CLIMAT COTE DU PY, 2002, Desvignes ($12.99) From one of the most revered sites in all Beaujolais. The vintner uses only natural yeasts and farming methods. Delicate yet deep. Great quality at the price. At Chambers Street Wines (212-227-1434).

JULIENAS “PRESTIGE” 2003, Georges Duboeuf ($10.97) Of the myriad Duboeuf labelings, any that are labeled “Prestige” are to watch for – these are from specific vineyards marked for high performance early on. Special care is taken right up through bottling. This Julienas is elegant and deep, and even has a touch of oak aging – not normally recommended for gamay, but it works in this vintage. Once again, a crazy price for such quality. At PJ Liquor Warehouse (212-567-5500).