Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau (2008) Origin: France (Beaujolais)
Price: $14
There are times when you simply must try something just to see what all the hype is about. Enter Beaujolais nouveau. In case you missed it, yesterday was officially "Beaujolais Nouveau Day," which is always celebrated on the third Thursday of November. It's an annual celebration of the red wine made from the Gamay grapes that are produced in the Beaujolais region of France. As you can imagine, in France this calls for serious festivities.
Beaujolais nouveau is traditionally a light, fruity wine, with very little tannin. There's a reason for that. The grapes are not actually crushed when making this wine ... fascinating. Rather, they are left whole for fermentation, which means the grapes begin to ferment from within and therefore the juice does not have much contact with the outer skin. Only near the end of the process does the grape break down fully. Also, the grapes are only left to ferment for a few weeks before distributing this wine, so it's extremely young, hence the "nouveau."
Yesterday I went over to the Hilton in downtown Harrisburg for a free Beaujolais nouveau tasting that was being held from 5-7 p.m. I was psyched and the place was mobbed. So I took my post in line for wine. Oddly enough, the line didn't seem to be moving and at around 6 p.m. the word spread that they were out of Beaujolais nouveau already and didn' t know if they would be getting any more. Wow, talk about bursting my bubble! Luckily just as we were about to leave, we saw a few cases arrive.
Now the verdict. Sorry to be negative, but I was prepared not to be floored by this wine. I'd accurately rate it as "meh." Merely a toddler as far as wines go, this thin wine offered essentially no structure. It flaunted a light pinkish-purple hue and had absolutely no legs. The fruit was definitely there -- much strawberry, blueberry and pear, with a hint of sweaty gym socks. OK, I'm kidding on that last one. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Seriously though, it did have a certain musty, earthy quality. All that aside, let's consider what a few years could do for this wine. The potential is there.
By the way, I've heard many say that Beaujolais nouveau pairs wonderfully with Thanksgiving dinner. As an added bonus, it's an excellent conversation piece.
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3 comments:
I just wanted to share the link to my column on Beaujolais Nouveau in case anyone wanted to read more or find out where they can try it. A few state store tastings still remain.
http://www.pennlive.com/columns/patriotnews/bozich/index.ssf?/base/columnists/1226504408150900.xml&coll=1
Hey -- so after spending all day Saturday practicing how to pronounce the name of this wine, I got to tell the lovely story of Beaujolais Nouveau as a few of us sipped it over a Thanksgiving spread. It went well with the dinner and everyone who tried it loved it (and not in a "I'm saying this just to flatter you" kind of way -- my friends are not that kind of nice), except for me. It wasn't awful and I got through the whole glass, but I just felt like there was something missing. My palate is not sophisticated enough to know what that was, but that's okay. Either way it was fun and thank you for the recommendation :o)
Glad your friends liked it ... the fact that it celebrates a harvest makes it very appropriate for Thanksgiving. But I agree with you, Jessica. It's not awful, yet I, too, feel like there's something missing. I just chalk it up to the fact that this is such a young wine. With Beaujolais nouveau it's more the tradition than anything else. A wine expert friend of mine has older vintages of Beaujolais nouveau in his collection and he says this wine is much better with age.
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