To me Beaujolais Nouveau is a celebration wine as it is released the week of my birthday each year. It also celebrates the just completed harvest and the promise for the wines made in Burgundy that year. Seems a lot of wine geeks and other bloggers don’t care for the stuff and that’s fine with me as you should drink what you like.

Before I present my favorite wine tasted this year, a bit of a story about my relationship with Beaujolais Nouveau. Back when I lived in Orange County, California there was a restaurant called Bouzy Rouge in Newport Beach. This was before the area was branded “The OC” in television and lifestyles of housewives so a bit of eccentricity was still allowed. The owner’s dilapidated Citroen was parked in front of the restaurant and they had some fun events, like the Beaujolais Nouveau release each year. My wife and I went every year we lived there and the young wine was served directly from the barrel into carafe or glass. It was almost like you were in Beaujolais. So this is what I remember each year when the time comes to try the new vintage.

This year I went to a couple of the better local stores and sampled 7 or 8 wines from different producers. Most were fine; fruity and exuberant but seemed a bit one dimensional which is par for the course here. Only one wine was very disappointing, served from promotional barrel (a very small one) that took me back to Bouzy Rouge. Ironically it was from the same producer I enjoyed so many years ago, Georges Duboeuf (could have been an off-barrel, I suppose). But of all the wines I sampled, only one stood out as something I’d like to take home. And I did just that and offer this review from the bottle opened this evening.

Pascal Chatelus, Beaujolais Nouveau 2007 ($12) - Bright ruby in color with aromas of wild cherry candy and banana. Juicy and tart in the mouth with candied cherry and strawberry fruit with some banana from the mid-palate to the finish. Just what I’m looking for in a Beaujolais Nouveau. Drink before 2008, preferably with food and good friends.

12.5% ABV
Composite cork closure
Score: 84
Rating:

This wine didn’t get opened until yesterday and it went great with Thanksgiving leftovers. It is from Joseph Drouhin, one of Burgundy’s best known négociants who started in the late 19th Century and remains a family run company some 130 years later. Besides their range of Burgundy, they also produce Chablis, Beaujolais and Pinot Noir & Chardonnay from Oregon’s Dundee Hills.

Joseph Drouhin, Beaujolais Nouveau 2006 ($15) - Bright purple-ruby color with aromas of strawberry, bing cherry and a touch of banana. In the mouth there are candy-like strawberry flavors with watermelon and plenty of acidity. The finish is slightly marred by some bitter tannins suggesting this might be somewhat better in a month or two, or perhaps next summer. An atypical nouveau more like a typical Beaujolais-Villages. Overall an enjoyable Beaujolais Nouveau but not the best value.

12.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 81

Buy this wine online

Another Quick Picks podcast celebrating both my birthday and the release of Beaujolais Nouveau today. My favorite from my tasting today is featured.

Louis Tete, Beaujolais Nouveau 2006 ($13) - Clear ruby/purple in color with aromas of strawberry, cherry and banana. In the mouth the wine is juicy with wild cherry and strawberry jam flavors finishing with good acidity and soft tannins. Textbook Nouveau from a reliable shipper. Drink with your Thanksgiving turkey and fixings.

12.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 82

If you want to hear more about Beaujolais Nouveau, be sure to check out Winecast 47 from last year.

Show Notes:
00:05 - Welcome and show theme
01:18 - Louis Tete, Beaujolais Nouveau 2006
02:18 - Shout out to Joseph Drouhin Nouveau
02:31 - Contact Details and next show theme

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com
Copyright 2006 Acan Media, Inc. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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Tonight’s show is a celebration of the 2005 vintage with Beaujolais Nouveau, tasting four shippers wines from this great year.

Show Notes:
0:21 - Welcome
0:35 - Beaujolais Nouveau Background
4:31 - Tasting Notes
4:41 - Francoise Chauvenet, Beaujolais Nouveau 2005 ($10)
4:59 - Antonin Rodet, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau 2005 ($10)
5:25 - Mommessin, Beaujolais Nouveau 2005 ($10)
5:51 - Louis Tete, Beaujolais Nouveau 2005 ($12)
6:15 - Best of Tasting and Best Value
6:45 - Contact Details
7:10 - Next Show Theme

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com | Audio comments: +01-206-33-WINE-9 (+01-206-339-4639)
Copyright 2005 Tim Elliott. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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I hope everyone here in the U.S. had a great Thanksgiving; I thought I would share my tasting notes from our feast:

Mommessin, Beaujolais Nouveau 2005 ($10) - Ruby in color with a purple rim, black cherry and strawberry aromas; strawberry and cherry fruit flavors with soft tannins and good acidity. A very good nouveau that portends an excellent Beaujolais vintage. Enjoy until the end of the year. Score: 8.5/10

Ponzi, Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2002 ($30) - Ruby color with powerful raspberry and plum aromas; raspberry and black cherry fruit flavors with a nice cinnamon note on the finish. Excellent concentration of fruit and pleasing acidity. Delicious now and will continue to please for another year or two. Score: 9/10

Now back to my turkey coma and the rest of the 4th quarter of the Cowboys game - Go Broncos!



Only 24 hours or so before our annual harvest feast day here in the U.S. and the wine blogosphere is buzzing with a few picks for the best wine matches to pair with the traditional turkey dinner (even with Alder sitting this one out). My choice is Pinot Noir and I have already given you a couple of Pinot’s to pick up if you have a large group to feed, but I think I will choose a Ponzi Pinot Noir 2002 from Oregon’s Willamette Valley I first reviewed in Winecast 8, with White Rose Estate Pinot Noir 2002 as my back-up bottle (although I might be tempted to call an audible and drink this one first!). Another tradition we have is to start off the festivities with a glass of Beaujolais nouveau. This year I have 4 of them to taste for an upcoming podcast, but probably will pull the dependable Louis Tete bottling, like my podcast buddy Alan, a.k.a. The Cellar Rat, already has.

If you must have a white wine, I suggest either an oaked Chardonnay or a crisp, fruity German Riesling from the excellent 2003 vintage. Look for “Kabinett” on the label and you will be good to go. Which ever wine you choose, make sure you have a backup bottle should cork taint raise its ugly head or your celebration requires further replenishment

Today is the 3rd Thursday of November, the day Beaujolais Nouveau is unleashed on the wine world. I’ve picked up some and will be letting you know what I think about them soon. Jean-Marc has a nice write-up and tips to pick the “best” Nouveau over at his french wine a day blog. Check it out…

The wines of Beaujolais are featured on today’s show, I finish the basic wine tasting series and mention my appearance on Garrick Van Buren’s First Crack podcast.

Wines tasted:

- Louis Jadot, Beaujolais-Villages 2003 ($7)
- Georges Duboeuf, Régnié 2002 ($8)
- Georges Duboeuf, Morgon “Jean Descombes” 2003 ($9)

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