Wine Focus for August: Beaujolais
Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:08 am
Dave E's challenge was simple and direct: Can we have a discussion of Beaujolais that does not include the phrase "serious wine" or disparaging remarks about carbonic maceration?"
Well, sure. Maybe.
Most people expect to read about Beaujolais in November, when wine writers in search of a seasonal idea almost invariably pick up on the release of the Nouveau Beaujolais, the French region's new wine of the vintage just past.
We're taking on the subject in August, though, in our online forum's monthly Wine Focus, because the excellent 2009 vintage of the named Beaujolais "Crus" has been released and will be hitting markets around the world soon.
Just about every year, these are the wines that prompt wine commentators to reach for words like, well, "serious," in a thesaurus-impaired effort to find a way to distinguish the upper-tier Beaujolais from the simple, fruity Nouveau.
"Bound and determined," "businesslike," "contemplative," "deliberate," "determined," "earnest," "genuine," "go for broke," "grave," "honest," "intent," "meditative," "no-nonsense," "pensive," "pokerfaced," "reflective," "resolute," "resolved," "sincere," "solemn," "steady," "stern," "thoughtful," "weighty"? Thanks, Thesaurus.com. This isn't as easy as it seems.
As for "carbonic maceration," let's just skip right past wine-making technology today and go straight to the tasting notes. I recently tasted through the 2009s from the ubiquitous Georges DuBoeuf and found them unexpectedly impressive.
While I wait for the 2009s to arrive at my local retailers, though, let's have a look at a couple of very decent 2008s (posted separately): The widely available Beaujolais-Villages from Louis Jadot, and an earthy, artisanal Beaujolais "Terres Dorees" from J.P. Brun. This pairing mirrors a tasting of 2005s that I published in November (of course), 2006, Beaujolais, not Nouveau.
Well, sure. Maybe.
Most people expect to read about Beaujolais in November, when wine writers in search of a seasonal idea almost invariably pick up on the release of the Nouveau Beaujolais, the French region's new wine of the vintage just past.
We're taking on the subject in August, though, in our online forum's monthly Wine Focus, because the excellent 2009 vintage of the named Beaujolais "Crus" has been released and will be hitting markets around the world soon.
Just about every year, these are the wines that prompt wine commentators to reach for words like, well, "serious," in a thesaurus-impaired effort to find a way to distinguish the upper-tier Beaujolais from the simple, fruity Nouveau.
"Bound and determined," "businesslike," "contemplative," "deliberate," "determined," "earnest," "genuine," "go for broke," "grave," "honest," "intent," "meditative," "no-nonsense," "pensive," "pokerfaced," "reflective," "resolute," "resolved," "sincere," "solemn," "steady," "stern," "thoughtful," "weighty"? Thanks, Thesaurus.com. This isn't as easy as it seems.
As for "carbonic maceration," let's just skip right past wine-making technology today and go straight to the tasting notes. I recently tasted through the 2009s from the ubiquitous Georges DuBoeuf and found them unexpectedly impressive.
While I wait for the 2009s to arrive at my local retailers, though, let's have a look at a couple of very decent 2008s (posted separately): The widely available Beaujolais-Villages from Louis Jadot, and an earthy, artisanal Beaujolais "Terres Dorees" from J.P. Brun. This pairing mirrors a tasting of 2005s that I published in November (of course), 2006, Beaujolais, not Nouveau.