[wine] Beaujolais Complex

Do your own "Bob" joke. BTW, I have a free spot for anyone interested in a tasting by Michael Martini of Ghost Pines and Louis Martini. Additional or guest spots are just $15 per person. Contact me at 651 645 0753 if interested. Tasting is at 7 in Bloomington. Cheers, Jim August 5, 2009 WINES OF THE TIMES Beaujolais Shows Its Complex Side By ERIC ASIMOV FEW wine names are better known around the world than Beaujolais, but no well-known wine is as little understood. The reasons for this are clear. Perhaps no other wine today is as defined, and as victimized, by its marketing and its history as Beaujolais. In short, Beaujolais is imprisoned by clichés. Marketing, of course, is what transformed the image of Beaujolais from a light and charming bistro wine to Beaujolais nouveau. The annual roll-out-the-barrels of Beaujolais nouveau took a quaint local harvest celebration and made it a worldwide phenomenon, sadly centered on wines that were largely tutti frutti and banal. Novelty begat boredom, and in the United States at least, the annual arrival of Beaujolais nouveau has been met with yawns for some time now. The history issue is a little trickier. For as long as most people remember, Beaujolais was a jolly little wine. The proverbial river of Beaujolais poured forth to Lyon, and eventually to cafes and neighborhood joints in Paris and other parts of France. But as with so much of wine lore, the notion of Beaujolais as a simple quaff needs to be put to sleep. Sad or not, the fact is that the wine world has changed sharply since Beaujolais perked up the daily lives and meals of so many French families. For one thing, the French don’t drink nearly as much wine as they once did, and when they do drink, they are now more discerning and more price conscious. As has been well documented, producers of vin ordinaire, whether it comes from Bordeaux, Languedoc or Beaujolais, have been in trouble for some time now. There are fewer customers and increased competition from the growing number of wine-producing countries around the world. At the same time, serious artisanal producers in Beaujolais have in the last 20 years done the same as serious artisanal producers everywhere else: they have vastly improved the quality and consistency of their wines, building on a greater understanding of viticulture and winemaking. Instead of selling cheap wine to a wide market of inexpensive bistros and cafes, top Beaujolais producers now sell to a narrower slice of the market willing to pay more money for wines of higher quality. The future of good Beaujolais, just as it is for many wines, is a specialty market of knowledgeable consumers with disposable income. Yet in the context of Beaujolais, the top wines are still only $15 to $30 a bottle. This may seem expensive according to outdated ideas about Beaujolais, yet, as the wine panel discovered in a tasting of 20 cru Beaujolais from the 2007 vintage, they are excellent values given the level of their quality. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Chris Goodhart, who oversees wine programs at Keith McNally’s restaurants, and Fred Dexheimer, a sommelier turned consultant. The cru Beaujolais, made from 10 communes judged to have distinctive terroirs, are generally the best wines of the region. Wines labeled Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages tend to be like the simpler wines of yore, though from good producers they can be highly satisfying. The transformation of wine from everyday grocery to luxury good has induced some winemakers around the world to cynically tailor their methods in a quest for higher ratings and greater profits. But as far as we could tell this has not at all been the case with top Beaujolais producers. Indeed, not only our top wines but also almost all the bottles we tried seemed to be sincere efforts at making the best possible wines without resorting to crowd-pleasing measures like layering on oaky or overtly fruity flavors. Instead, our favorites were indisputably serious wines that combine density of flavor with lightness of body, and beautiful aromas of fruit, flowers, minerals and spice with freshness and structure. While these wines belie the patronizing cliché that Beaujolais is a simple though charming wine, the best of these wines nonetheless retain the innate joyousness at the heart of the gamay grape. Our favorite, the Côte-de-Brouilly from Jean-Paul Brun, was simultaneously serious and exuberant, delicious yet with enough complexity and precision to give you something to think about. Similarly, our No. 2 wine, the Juliénas from Michel Tête, had densely layered aromas and flavors yet was light and elegant. At $16 it was our best value, though it had competition from the Brun, which was only $2 more. The wines at the top of the list, from Côte-de-Brouilly, Juliénas, Chiroubles and Brouilly, tended to be a little more open and accessible than the rest of the wines in our top 10, which, with one exception, came from Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent and Fleurie, which generally give denser, more structured wines. Domaine Diochon’s Moulin-à-Vent was particularly rich and chewy, while Daniel Bouland’s Vieilles Vignes was a classically rugged Morgon, though with an underlying beauty that will emerge with another year or two of aging. Also among this group was the spicy, juicy Régnié Vallières from Jean-Marc Burgaud. Our No. 10 wine was a Moulin-à-Vent from Georges Duboeuf, who largely personifies Beaujolais around the world. While some wines issued under the Duboeuf name can be very good, I have often found his inexpensive flower label wines have an unappealing candied quality. Not this one. It had all the density and complexity one could wish for in a Moulin-à-Vent. Aside from our top 10 wines, some other producers are well worth seeking out. Marcel Lapierre makes beautifully balanced Morgons, while Louis-Claude Desvignes’s Morgons are more sturdy and structured. I’m also a big fan of the Fleuries of Clos de la Roilette and the Moulin-à-Vents from Louis Jadot’s Château des Jacques. While the received wisdom continues to dismiss Beaujolais as a simple little wine, these wines speak far differently. Tasting Report: Flavorful Yet Light Jean-Paul Brun Terres Dorées Côte-de-Brouilly 2007 $18 *** 1/2 (Three and a Half Stars) Joyous, with precise aromas and flavors of flowers, berries, anise and minerals. (Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York) BEST VALUE Michel Tête Domaine du Clos du Fief Juliénas 2007 $16 *** 1/2 (Three and a Half Stars) Dense yet elegant with lovely aromas and flavors of fruit, iron and granite. (Louis/Dressner Selections) Georges Descombes Chiroubles 2007 $28 *** (Three Stars) Light-bodied, with lingering flavors of fruit, flowers and minerals. (Louis/Dressner Selections) Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Brouilly Pierreux 2007 $26 *** (Three Stars) Juicy, balanced and delicious with flavors of blackberries and earth. (Weygandt-Metzler Importing, Unionville, Pa.) Domaine Diochon Moulin-à-Vent Vieilles Vignes 2007 $19 ** 1/2 (Two and a Half Stars) Dense with deep flavors of dark fruit, earth and granite. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, Calif.) Jean-Marc Burgaud Régnié Vallières 2007 $22 ** 1/2 (Two and a Half Stars) Fresh and bright with lovely aromas of violets, cinnamon and plums. (Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland) Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py 2007 $30 ** 1/2 (Two and a Half Stars) Earthy, with silky texture and flavors of black cherries and spices. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant) Daniel Bouland Morgon Vieilles Vignes 2007 $20 ** 1/2 (Two and a Half Stars) Dense and rugged with flavors of black cherries and earth. (Weygandt-Metzler Importing) Château du Chatelard Fleurie Cuvée Tradition 2007 $24 ** 1/2 (Two and a Half Stars) Serious with balanced flavors of fruit, spice, minerals and flowers. (Wineberry America, New York) Georges Duboeuf Moulin-à-Vent Flower Label 2007 $12 ** 1/2 (Two and a Half Stars) Juicy, smoky and silky; aromas of fruit, flowers and minerals. (W. J. Deutsch & Sons, White Plains) -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *