I realize I haven’t given any reviews below 80 yet, partly because I feel guilty. Like if I give it a bad grade it’s going to stay behind, and then it will forever be the wine that spent 3 years in the second grade. But if I told every wine it was smart and gave it hugs I’d be doing them and you a disservice, and that wouldn’t be fair to anyone. So from now on, I’m going to be Tough, but Fair MobyGrape!
The Far Side
Beaujolais is a red wine made from the gamay grape. It is produced in the Beaujolais region of Burgundy in France and is known for it’s light body, low tannin content, and a very fruit forward flavors. It is meant to be drunk young, especially Beaujolais Nouveau. When talking about beaujolais there are two types:
Beaujolais: Typically meant to be drunk up to 1-2 years after bottling, this is the standard form in the region accounting for 2/3 of production.
Beaujolais Nouveau: Beaujolais that is harvested and only aged for 6-8 weeks before being bottled. It is meant to be drunk immediately and has almost no tannin content while being dominated by fruit flavor. They are released worldwide on the third Thursday of every November. It’s commonly referred to as a “quaffing” or table wine. It is also meant to be served slightly cooler than most reds, around 55 degrees. Some critics say it’s too immature and is hardly a wine but I think you need to be the judge for yourself!
There are also 3 appellations in the region:
Beaujolais: This is the most generic AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) and covers all basic Beaujolais wines. Many wines produced in this AOC are sold as Beaujolais Nouveau.
Beaujolais- Villages: This is the intermediate classification. Wines with this label typically will be of higher quality than Beaujolais AOC. If the grapes used are from a single village you may see the village name on the label as well.
Cru Beaujolais: The highest classification of Beaujolais, there are only 10 villages allowed to produce under this AOC. We will talk about the word “Cru” further when talking about Burgundy wine classifications however in this case it simply refers to a specific area in the Beaujolais region. Villages in this AOC are not allowed to produce Beaujolais Nouveau. When looking at Cru labels you often won’t see the the word “Beaujolais” but instead the name of the village…they do this so they don’t blend in with the millions of bottles of standard or Nouveau wines. Unlike other Beaujolais, Cru wine is meant to be aged 1-10 years depending on the village.
Lastly there is one more interesting fact about Beaujolais: 90% of the wine is produced by negociants. A negociant is wine merchant who buys grapes from different villages, assembles the wines, and sells them under their own name. The most common producer I’ve seen in MA is Louis Jadot as seen in the photo in this post. Moby and I will be reviewing a Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages we drank over the holiday in an upcoming post.
So now that you have all this knowledge about Beaujolais, is it actually good? It depends on who you talk to. Some people despise it for it’s immaturity and many love it. My Aunt and Uncle (who I would consider wine experts) describe it as a “pizza wine” and I tend to agree after experiencing a few bottles. It’s a wine you would drink if you’re having a simple meal but feel like wine…or maybe something that calls for white but you feel like red. It may also be a good gateway wine for inexperienced palates not ready for big tannins and complex structure. The good news is that it is very inexpensive. A bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau, Beaujolais, or Beaujolais-Villages should not cost you more than $15 and at that price there’s no excuse for not grabbing a bottle on your next trip to the store and giving it a try!
Colonel’s log, star date 1120201.2. Moby and I have ventured into the great unknown that is Burgundy. We pre-gamed a bit tonight with some Lobster Reef Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand while getting our beer-can chicken in order. A little olive oil, some seasoning, and a can of Guinness where the sun don’t shine and on the grill it goes with indirect heat for 1-1.5 hours until it hits 165 degrees. It’s an easy, inexpensive meal that delivers surprisingly moist chicken. I even started carving this guy up before we thought to take a picture. What goes well with any kind of chicken? Stove top…with butter. Enough said.
Let’s get to the wine! Tonight we had a 2009 Clod Paradis Mercurey Premier Cru bottled by Michel Picard. I’ve been excited about this bottle for a while now, every time I planned on opening it something would come up. I wasn’t disappointed but Moby was on the fence:
colonelgrape: 92. Initial leathery and dark fruity smell. The color is a brighter shade of reddish purple. Initial tastes of blackberry with moderate acidity. Smoother than I’d expect but definitely on the dryer side. The tannins are there but not in your face like a big cabernet. It has a mild spiciness to the ending, I get the same feeling in my mouth when I eat a piece of cinnamon gum. Would pair well with a variety of light, medium meals, and spicy meals.
MobyGrape: 82. This smelled like the bottom of your shoe if you stepped in a puddle of wine. Then I drank it and I’m pretty sure I could use it to take my nail polish off. I’d drink it again, but I can’t figure out what’s going on in this glass. Maybe this is what mercury tastes like? But it has Picard on the bottle, so I expected better from this. Captain’s log – don’t drink this by itself, you’re gonna need to eat something.
There’s a lot to digest when looking at a burgundy label. What’s a Cru? Isn’t mercurey spelled mercury and poisonous? I don’t know french, help. We’ll get into burgundy in an upcoming post. If you aren’t afraid to take risks, spend some money, and like pinot noir…I suggest setting a course for Burgundy, maximum warp.
Don’t worry, there’s a good reason these two pictures are included. I don’t really remember what it is right now, but just enjoy the pictures and leave me alone. This wine is Spanish, and I’m pretty sure Enrique Iglesias is too, but that’s where my research ends. From my brief search on the wine it looks like it comes from the Cataluña region in Spain, and that’s A-OK with me. Barcelona is a great city, and if anyone wants to send me there to do some research, I’m a great ambassador. Even if it doesn’t actually come from that region, please don’t ruin it for me. I enjoyed this wine a great deal more than the Colonel, and I think he wasn’t feeling well when he had it becuase he didn’t even review it, but I was fine with that since it meant I got to drink most of it myself. I think it was around $30, which I still cringe at for a bottle of wine but it actually does make a difference. Don’t worry, I’m not a snob, I’m just facing the hard truth that I can’t be cheap all the time. So here’s my review of the wine, one day I’ll get it back in the house and maybe the Colonel will review it then. If not, I’ll get the bottle to myself. That’s what we call a win-win.
MobyGrape: 91. Can’t really identify the flavors but I don’t care. Very smooth and easy to drink, with a meal or alone, although I don’t know if I’d put it with a steak. I do know that I’d have this Enrique Iglesias hot buttered soul stomper any night of the week and enjoy it.
So this is my first stab at the “official” wine review post….I doubt this is going to be comfortable for anyone so you might want to make sure you have a drink when you read this. I didn’t even take this picture of the bottle, that’s how much of a hack I am. Actually the first picture I pasted was a completely different wine, and the one in here is a different year. I could promise these will get better, but I’d most definitely be lying. I’ll probably just leave them to the Colonel from now on. Anyways, back to the wine. Clearly, it’s a French wine, which means it thinks it’s better than you. I’m also told it’s aged in concrete instead of wooden barrels. If you want to know more about that process Google it and then let me know. I think that’s pretty neat, apparently these grapes rubbed someone with mob connections the wrong way and wound up getting aged with the fishes. Aside from needing to contribute something useful to this blog, This review holds a special place in my heart because it was the first “official” one we ever did. I wish I could say I’ve grown since then.
colonelgrape: 78. A nice initial taste but a plain/flat finish. Mild aftertaste hints of raisins. Would be good with a light-medium non-red meat meal.
Grapestorm 