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Story by Manos Angelakis
Photography courtesy Jennifer Mitchell Photography
Le 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrivé!
As required by French law, Beaujolais Nouveau, made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region, is released not earlier than one minute after midnight (Paris time), on the third Thursday in November - six weeks after the grapes have been harvested. Designed as a “fête populaire”, the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration is a worldwide party where lovers of French wine, food and culture are, each year, invited to taste the new vintage. We celebrated the arrival of the new wines as guests of Les Vins Georges Duboeuf and W. J. Deutsch & Sons. In both New York and Miami, "Peace, Love and Beaujolais Nouveau" vintage VW 'Love Buses,' escorted by Beaujolais Biker Chefs and wine-loving hippies – which brought up memories of my well-spent youth in San Fransisco, delivered the first cases of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau to the official "sip-in" uncorking ceremonies.
Les Vins Georges Duboeuf is a négoçiant of premium French wines from the Beaujolais and Mâconnais regions of Burgundy. According to Frank Duboeuf, the 2009 harvest was one of the best in the last 50 years. Many factors contributed to the success of the vintage, but very dry and warm weather in August was key to promoting fuller maturity in the grapes. Harvest, which began very early, afforded lots of time to bring in healthy and very ripe fruit.
To be honest, I consider Beaujolais Nouveau to be an acquired taste. It is a vin de primeur, almost like drinking barrel samples, prior to full aging and bottling. The 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau wines are a bit faint on the palate, ready to be drunk upon release and, this year, quite enjoyable if you like very young wines. The nose is very fruity, because Beaujolais Nouveau is typically made in a fruit-forward style accentuated by the use of carbonic maceration during production (in which whole, uncrushed grape clusters are fermented in a carbon dioxide atmosphere). This produces aromatic compounds and pronounced floral and fruit characteristics.
We celebrated the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau at Bagatelle (409 West 13th Street) a restaurant in the Meatpacking District that was new to me. Executive Chef Nicolas Cantrel, is a chef steeped in French culinary tradition; he serves a menu that suggests a Provençal brasserie. His food was the perfect foil to the Beaujolais Nouveau and especially the Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau. Two items in the menu thrilled me, a shot of chestnut cream soup (Soupe de Chataîgnes) and the grilled lamb chops with chanterelles, baby salad (sic), black olives and chickpea fries, covered by a savory coating of herbs and Dijon mustard. Two of the passed canapés were also exceptional, the miniature crab cakes and the mini croquet monsieur.
There were a number of other Georges Duboeuf wines available for tasting, but I was there for the Beaujolais Nouveau, and I concentrated on them.
Very typical of the 2009 vintage, they are a light, very fruity red wine. They are showing 12.5% alcohol, little tannins, nose of dark berries and cherry fruit, and hints of tropical flavors, with the Villages Nouveau showing additional hints of cinnamon and cedar on the nose. Well-balanced acidity characterizes both wines, but the Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau had a bit more of a body, is darker, and I liked it much better. If you purchase either one - and they are both fairly inexpensive – refrigerate them for a short time and drink them on the cool side (55 degrees). Their youth will delight you.
To your health!
© December 2009 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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