WTN: Brun X 2, or What Is This

With Betsy playing a concert in White Plains, it was my job to play cook for first night of Hanukkah, and I made brisket (based on a simple recipe, but I substituted 4 oz of Sauternes, a dash of vinegar, and some San Romano tomatoes for the cup and half of ketchup), latkes (I used a mix, but went half oil and half duck fat), and broccoli. Not bad for the goy boy. We lit the candles, enjoyed the meal, and Betsy asked me what the wine was. She got more of an explanation than she bargained for. The wine was the (NV) Brun (Terres Dorees) "L'Ancien" VV Vin de Table. The short version- this is the wine where apparently the first batch was approved for the AOC (so 2007 JP Brun/Terres Dorees L'Ancien Vieilles Vignes Beaujolais AC , and then the second batch was denied AC status as not being typical.
This seems like Beaujolais to me. Light tannins, good acidity, fresh black and red cherry fruit, big floral nose. Doesn't strike me as very different than the '07 that got the AC. One thing is I notice just a hint of that potted plant/geranium thing I get from Loire Gamay, but just a hint. Overall a very nice lighter red. Betsy's eyes seemed glazed over as I finish my 10 minute explanation and dissection of the AOC system, but I'm sure she was just tired. Wine gets a B/B+

Tonight she made a pasta with a lemon/mushroom/spinach/marsala sauce along with fennel/orange salad. wine was another of M. Brun's , the 2007 Terres Dorees Beaujolais Blanc. Apple and pear fruit, a little lemon that seems to come to forefront with the lemony pasta, some chalk and flint. Decent length, good if not bracing acidity, fine by me.B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

With all these fine meals, does the doggie get to sample the left-overs? Yummy if so.

. . . latkes (I used a mix, but went half oil and half duck fat) . . . Not bad for the goy boy.

Agreed! I am impressed. I'm sure the duck fat tasted great, but your use of it reveals your true origins as a goy gourmand. If you were a real Jew, you would have used schmaltz (and you would have used real potatoes, onions, eggs and matzo meal). Still, well done.

We recently enjoyed the same L'ancien bottling: delightful wine (I didn't get the geranium thing, though). I was at first surprised by the NV label (although there is something like 'L2007' printed on the label somewhere) but then looked at Dressner's site for the explanation. The wine doesn't seem that far out of normal Beaujolais parameter space, so I wonder if the tiff with Brun isn't really more political? Wasn't there also a bottling labeled VV Pinot Noir that used to get Brun in hot water with the authorities?

I knew I needed to keep at least some oil for tradition, but was eying that duck fat (we didn't have any schmaltz at the moment). I googled "duck fat latkes" and found an article by Steven "Fat Guy" Shaw where he recommended the fat/oil mix method. I would never claim these were as good as hand-grated, I've had latkes I would kills for, but certainly better than the mix recipe (I guess I'm a male (and uglier) version of that "Semi-Homemade" idiot.

Joe, I wondered over the politics, too.