The holidays are the time of the year we share wine with friends and family. This year I decided to introduce my 21 year old daughter to red wines. Like a lot of novice wine drinkers, her tastes are tuned to white wines that are slightly (or noticeably) sweet. But she’s been drinking some sangria of late so I thought the next step was tasting some fruit-driven, soft reds.
I immediately thought of Beaujolais as this was one of the first red wines I discovered back in the day. Made from Gamay Noir in an appellation to the south of Burgundy, Beaujolais continues to deliver great value even in times of challenging exchange rates. And it’s not clear to me why this is given the overall market and mainstream awareness of the area due to massive marketing for Beaujolais nouveau every November.
So this Christmas I opened a bottle of Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2009 in the place of my usual Bordeaux or aged California Cabernet. And while it struggled to keep up with the rib roast at times, I found the wine to be bright and satisfying. And my daughter is now a red wine fan even without the fruit juice and ice. Perhaps next year she will develop a taste for more hearty wines? We’ll see.
Tasting notes:
Louis Jadot, Beaujolais-Villages 2009 ($12) – Ruby in color with aromas of strawberry and fennel. Bright, juicy cherry and strawberry fruit finishing with a touch of banana and supple tannins. Has everything I love about Gamay at a fair price and available just about everywhere.
12.5% ABV
Composite cork closure
[rating:3.5/5]
Score: 88
Buy this wine online
Fun read, Tim! Happy new year!
Thanks Nancy. Happy New Year to you!
I just got this bottle of wine for Christmas, and am planning to open it up to celebrate the new year tonight with my turkey dinner. It seems like it doesn’t need to be decanted and tastes best slightly chilled?
This one doesn’t need any decanting but might need chilling as you point out. My cellar now here in Minnesota keeps the wine about 50′ F, perfect for Beaujolais. But most people will have to chill in the fridge 15-20 minutes before serving to get the wine to this temperature. And it should be a great match for turkey; enjoy.
Awesome; thank you so much for the advice! My family is entertaining tonight and I wanted to make sure I’d have something for those who preferred red. I picked out a german riesling for people who like whites.
I’m around the same age as your daughter and have been trying to learn about wines. It’s hard because don’t have someone around who knows their wines to learn from! She’s very lucky to have a dad who can show her the ropes. Happy new year!
Sounds like a nice dinner, Lynn. Without sounding too self serving, you might like learning about wine from reading wine blogs. Check out my blogroll down the sidebar for some places to start. And wine books are also a good place to learn, too. But the main thing is to try lots of different wines and find what your preferences are.
Happy New Year!
Was there a time the label on this bottle was a little bit more colorful? I want to make sure that’s the one a close friend liked so much before buying it again. Thanks.
No, you are thinking about one of the wines of Georges Duboeuf who have featured colorful labels for years. They should not be hard to find in wine stores.