Drinking Local To Boycott Beaujolais Nouveau

What was lost is now found – I finally found my notes from my trip to Ottawa two weeks ago which is the reason for this belated post.

It’s that time of year again – turkey, family, friends, more turkey, football, and Beaujolais Nouveau release time.  The third Thursday of November marks the annual release date of the young, light purple-pink, bananaish version of Gamay from the Beaujolais region of France.  We have George Duboeuf (primarily) to thank for littering the globe with this disrespectful-to-the-Gamay-grape swill.  (An interesting factoid about Beaujolais Nouveau – the release date is always the third Thursday of November, regardless of which date harvest occurs.)

I’ve read that the carbon footprint to ship Nouveau across the globe is obscene and is reason many avoid purchasing the Nouveau.  I don’t buy it because I think it sucks.

Once again I celebrated the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau by not buying any.  Instead, I quietly expressed my disdain for the Nouveau by drinking local – local to Canada that is.  My work travels took me to Ottawa, Canada, and on Thursday I found myself in Play Food & Wine in Ottawa’s ByWard Market.   Play Food & Wine is one of the best places in Ottawa to experience small plates, along with Canadian cheese and wine.

For my drink-local-to-boycott-Nouveau wine of the evening was the Stratus Vineyards 2007 Gamay from Niagara-On-The-Lake.  Although the bartender highly recommended this wine, I had my doubts about a Gamay from Canada.  Much to my delight, this Gamay was really tasty good.   This light purple Gamay opens with a lively nose of cherry, overripe raspberry, dust and hints of a meaty component.  On the palate, this wine is light bodied (but very lively) with blueberry candy and that same meaty component.  This wine, in my opinion, showed more acidity than traditional Beaujolais. Although this wine was $62CA per bottle on the Play menu, you can pick up a bottle for $29CA on the Stratus website.  According to the Stratus website, this is only the third release of their Gamay since 2001.

If you find yourself in Ottawa, a stop by Play Food & Wine for dinner and drinks is a must – and be sure to order a glass of the Stratus 2007 Gamay.

Other Drink What You Like Beaujolais related posts:

• Beaujolais – The Summer to Fall Transition Wine
• Marcel Lapierre Morgon
• Not So Nouveau

Coming next… Southbrook 2008 Triomphe Merlot from Niagara…

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Beaujolais – the Summer to Fall Transition Wine

As the Season’s transition – from the heat and humidity of summer here in Virginia, to the cool, crispness of Fall – so too do my wine tastes.  During this transition, I seem to naturally move from crisp, steely Sauvignon Blancs to light reds – in particular to Beaujolais. Although it’s great any time of the year, Beaujolais is the perfect summer-to-fall transition wine.

This week, I am working in the Washington DC area – where the weather is in the Summer to Fall transition.  Last night I had the chance to catch up with a couple of colleagues at Eat Bar in Arlington, VA.  On the menu was one lone Beaujolais – the Domaine Dupeuble Pere et Fils 2008, imported by Kermit Lynch.  In looking back over my Beaujolais tasting notes, it’s interesting to note that I had a Beaujolais the last time I met this same group at Eat Bar.

Domaine Dupeuble Pere et Fils 2008 Beaujolais $35/bottle, but less than ½ that price in a retail store.  Light purple color in the glass, this wine had a beautiful (not a word I use a lot) of violets, strawberries, and big league chew bubble gum.  In the mouth, pomegranate and mineral flavors dominated with a pleasant red berry finish.  Nice acidity and near silky mouthfeel. 

If you can find this particular wine at a retail outlet, in the $15/bottle range, I would highly recommend it.  Yet another example of an excellent Kermit Lynch import.

What is your Summer-to-Fall transition wine?

I liked this particular Beaujolais so much that I took the bottle back to the hotel with me to snap this photo because I didn’t take my camera to dinner.

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In Search of our House Wine

I am an optimist.  I have a baked-in, fundamental positive outlook on life.  I know the economy will improve, I believe the Steelers will win the Super Bowl again this year, and I am confident that I can find an excellent Tuesday-night red wine for under $7 or $8. 

For some time now, I’ve been in search of an economical ‘house wine’ – a go to mid-week wine when I just need that one glass to unwind.  A wine that comes with no drain guilt – that uneasy feeling that comes when pouring the remnants of a bottle down the drain after a few days of hanging around.

As part of my continual search for an economical house wine I made a stop by the new Trader Joe’s that just opened in Virginia Beach.  During my visit, I found, what appeared to be, a gem for $5.99 – although this wine was located on the bottom shelf, the ‘Morgon’ name jumped out at me.  Morgon, as in one of the 10 Cru’s of the Beaujolais region in Southern France.

I am a big fan of the gamay grape (used to make Beaujolais wines) and am a big believer in the potential of Beaujolais wines.   Unfortunately, gamay gets a bad name at times because of the rancid Beaujolais Nouveaux wines that hit store shelves each November.

I was optimistic leaving the store and couldn’t wait to get home to open this one…

2007 Louis Vergé “Les Pierres Fines” Morgon Cru Beaujolais –  $5.99 at Trader Joe’s.  A simple, basic effort.  On the nose I found grape punch with slight hints of sweet cherry candy.  Light tannins and acidity.  Flavors of watered down grape-raspnberry drink in the mouth with a touch of earth.  Thin.  Not a candidate for my house wine.  I’m confident that the wine industry can do better… and I will keep searching!

If anyone out there has a recommendation for a possible ‘house wine’ with a price point under 8 bucks, please let me know!

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Marcel Lapierre, Morgon 2005 at Eat Bar

I worked in Washington, DC this week and had the occassion to meet up with a few colleagues at Eat Bar in Arlington, VA.  To get the evening started I decided to continue my ‘random trend’ of rampant Beaujolais drinking.  Since there were only four Beaujolais’ on the menu I went with the most notable, Marcel Lapierre from the Morgon, one of the ten ‘crus’ in Beaujolais and one of the notable producers of the region.  (Here’s an interesting excellent article that appeared at the Saveur website which features Mr. Lapierre:  http://www.saveur.com/article/wine/The-New-Beaujolais.)

A quick snipet from the article:   Of course, his wines have varied in quality from year to year. Natural winemaking can be something of a roller coaster-but Lapierre has learned to enjoy the giddy thrills it entails. “It’s a great release,” he told me in Villié-Morgon over a plate of homemade sausages and a glass of his own red. “Every vigneron wants to work like this in his heart of hearts. But you have to be brave, and it can be expensive. Modern enologists are against the whole thing because it’s risky, but for me it’s the most natural way of doing things. You just have to spend a lot of time understanding the chemistry of what goes on.”

Marcel Lapierre, Morgon 2005 – $34/bottle – Imported by Kermit Lynch (verynice).  Bright reddish plum color.  Lively nose filled with cinnamon, strawberry, cherry and vanilla.  Well balanced with more cinnamon and plum in the mouth.  For some unknown reason, I have consumed a lot of Beaujolais lately – most of which I haven’t written about here – and have noticed a considerable difference in quality both vertically and horizontally within the Morgon.  I would have liked to have had the 2006 of this wine as well just to compare the two.

 

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