Beaujolais Nouveau Vintage of Century

[Craig Camp]

“It’s a delicacy,” said Hubert Laverriere, president of AOC Beaujolais, the wine certification board.

[tommy]

i read this not 24 hours after i told a friend that this year i wouldn't even consider wasting my money on this stuff. it's become more and more undrinkable. i'm not sure if that's because my tastes are changing or not.

does anyone have any suggestions on producers? perhaps that's where i've been going wrong. maybe this year i can use it as more than a decoration for the table.

[MatthewB]

i read this not 24 hours after i told a friend that this year i wouldn't even consider wasting my money on this stuff. it's become more and more undrinkable. i'm not sure if that's because my tastes are changing or not.

does anyone have any suggestions on producers? perhaps that's where i've been going wrong. maybe this year i can use it as more than a decoration for the table.

Have you tried some of the Italian stuff? That's been very good recently.

However, no Italian is being distributed around here this year.

[Busboy]

i read this not 24 hours after i told a friend that this year i wouldn't even consider wasting my money on this stuff.  it's become more and more undrinkable.  i'm not sure if that's because my tastes are changing or not.

does anyone have any suggestions on producers?  perhaps that's where i've been going wrong.  maybe this year i can use it as more than a decoration for the table.

Have you tried some of the Italian stuff? That's been very good recently.

However, no Italian is being distributed around here this year.

I always thought it was a great, fun way to get a little (OK, a lot) knackered on a bottle of glorified grape juice, back when it was $4.99 a bottle. Kind of a sign of fall. But at recent prices, it seems a waste and yea, like Tommy, I think my tatstes are changing.

Might be worth return to the ring, though. So much BN was shipped back to France last year - -based on Tommy and me not drinking our share, probably -- and turned into vinegar, that prices may be a little more in line with the quality of the product this year.

Or, maybe, the Beaujolais will keep prices high and use pseudo-scientific happy talk to move the product.

[badthings]

One to lay down for the kids

I've been meaning to ensure a steady supply of rubbing alcohol for posterity.

[Craig Camp]

i read this not 24 hours after i told a friend that this year i wouldn't even consider wasting my money on this stuff.  it's become more and more undrinkable.  i'm not sure if that's because my tastes are changing or not.

does anyone have any suggestions on producers?  perhaps that's where i've been going wrong.  maybe this year i can use it as more than a decoration for the table.

Have you tried some of the Italian stuff? That's been very good recently.

However, no Italian is being distributed around here this year.

I was at a large supermarket last weekend at there must of been twenty different brands of Italian nouveau stacked up. Prices started at less than Euro 2 - a fair price I would say. I resisted the urge and went home and drank a gutsy wine from Puglia to clear my palate from even the idea of drinking one.

[Busboy]

One to lay down for the kids

I've been meaning to ensure a steady supply of rubbing alcohol for posterity.

As I recall, even at its best, the stuff is only supposed to last six months before it begins to fade.

[Carolyn Tillie]

As I recall, even at its best, the stuff is only supposed to last six months before it begins to fade.

Gee, that was always my thoughts about Gamay... more than six months in the bottle and it was gone.

[melkor]

As I recall, even at its best, the stuff is only supposed to last six months before it begins to fade.

Gee, that was always my thoughts about Gamay... more than six months in the bottle and it was gone.

There are some wines which are made from gamay and are intended to age, but they are only slightly less awful than nouveau.

[badthings]

Although they are getting harder to find, there are still well-made cru Beaujolais out there that you could keep for a while. I'll have to look up the astounding (unsulfured) Morgon I had last year.

This may surprise some of you, but Steve Edmunds has released a real California Gamay noir à jus blanc (from El Dorado county, of all places) that is fun, delicious, and appropriately beaujolais-y (in a good way, not a rubbing alcohol way). If only he could sell it for the price of a DuBouef Villages. I wouldn't age it for a long time, but it could take another year in bottle.

[Adam Balic]

I think that people are being very hard on Gamay wine. OK, they aren't Cabernet wines, but they still can make some interesting wine, even wine that has some aging potential.

[melkor]

I think that people are being very hard on Gamay wine. OK, they aren't Cabernet wines, but they still can make some interesting wine, even wine that has some aging potential.

Gamay, White Zinfandel, and Sparkling Shiraz are all in the same camp. The vast majority of them are made for consumption by people who don't like wine. It's the exception when any of the three are made in a serious style - it's not that it can't be done, but that is rarely the case.

[badthings]

OK, they aren't Cabernet wines, but they still can make some interesting wine...

Exactly right -- some people around here do appreciate them for what they are. In fact, I'd rather have a nice beaujolais than a California cab. most days.

The negativity comes from the oceans of vile swill passed off as beaujolais, particularly nouveau.

[MatthewB]

I'll take one for the team . . .

I spoke with my wine guy & he's getting in four different French BNs.

I'll pick up a bottle of each & report.

But do wish I was getting one or two Italians, too.

[tommy]

I'll take one for the team . . .

I spoke with my wine guy & he's getting in four different French BNs.

I'll pick up a bottle of each & report.

But do wish I was getting one or two Italians, too.

if the same wines are readily available, maybe we could throw together a thread with tasting notes to discuss the merits, if any, of these wines. might be fun.

[MatthewB]

I'll take one for the team . . .

I spoke with my wine guy & he's getting in four different French BNs.

I'll pick up a bottle of each & report.

But do wish I was getting one or two Italians, too.

if the same wines are readily available, maybe we could throw together a thread with tasting notes to discuss the merits, if any, of these wines. might be fun.

Let's do it.

Start that thread when appropriate, mr. tommy.

[Craig Camp]

I am a huge fan of gamay in the hands of great producers. These wines have nothing to do with nouveau which is more a product of a fermentation method (carbonic maceration) than a particular varietal.

You have not tasted gamay until you have tasted the Loire and Beaujolais selections of Joe Dressner at Louis/Dressner Selections.

You can find out more information about Louis/Dressner HERE

Or you can also breeze through the tasting notes of Florida Jim, resident fine gamay expert by doing a search Here

[Craig Camp]

might be fun.

Is fun allowed at wine tastings?

[MatthewB]

might be fun.

Is fun allowed at wine tastings?

Have you ever been Paris Hilton's date at a wine tasting?

[Craig Camp]

As I recall, even at its best, the stuff is only supposed to last six months before it begins to fade.

Gee, that was always my thoughts about Gamay... more than six months in the bottle and it was gone.

Joke alert: The thing about keeping nouveau for your kids was humor. Aging your nouveau for more than six hours is at your own risk. Beaujolais Nouveau goes through an important change after aging in the store for six months: it drops in price by 90%.

The Wine Forum apologizes for the confusion.

[Craig Camp]

might be fun.

Is fun allowed at wine tastings?

Have you ever been Paris Hilton's date at a wine tasting?

No, but he keeps trying to take me.

[tommy]

might be fun.

Is fun allowed at wine tastings?

the kids these days are having all kindza fun with wine and dining and lots of snooty stuffy stuff.

[bleachboy]

Gamay is a really terrific grape. Given the number of posts passing it off as "uninteresting" or "grape juice", I think there are a few posters in here who have some kind of unexplainable bias against light-drinking wines.

[futronic]

I can't drink any form of Nouveau wine, be it French or Italian. I'd rather drink Welch's.

[tcizma]

Jean-Paul Brun from Domaine des Terres Dorees ( imported by Joe Dressner ) is making Beaujolais with lower alcohol ( no chaptalization) and using indigenous yeast to produce terrific drinking wines with really unique fruit character. it should be noted that Brun is the only non-"Cru" beaujolais maker to rate 4 stars from Parker.

Another incarnation of Gamay is Cerdon, a semi dry pink bubbly made by spontaneous, but incomplete fermentation. Graet as an apertif or dessert.