Perhaps “Compelling Beaujolais” is an oxymoron.  Let’s see.

Recently, Jancis Robinson, wine critic of the Financial Times, noted that the 2009 Beaujolais vintage is the best in recent memory.  In her words,  “… how about delicious 2009s that are stuffed full of fruit, cost well under £15 a bottle and are actually delicious to drink? Now.” 

Given that, by and large, these wines are at the more affordable end of the spectrum, I decided to invite some friends over for a late spring Beaujolais dinner on Saturday evening to check out the 2009 Cru Beaujolais.  Not only did we taste some good wine, but most importantly we had a great evening filled with silliness, laughter and a little bit of dancing.  That, in the final analysis, is what Beaujolais is really all about!

Let me say that I am not a huge fan of Beaujolais.  That probably goes back to the few bottles of uninspired and/or Bad Beaujolais I have drunk over the years– mostly Beaujolais Villages.  But not much Cru Beaujolais.  Is there a difference?  You bet your sweet bippy! 

Where does one start to look for a Bippy, anyway?

We all remember the boom of Beaujolais Nouveau– though perhaps better to forget.  But remember the best of these had a ripeness, freshness and acidity that made them perfect for easy Thanksgiving drinking.  No small accident that the wines typically arrive in the third week of November each year?  Actually, a 1951 French government decree proscribes the release of the wines before November 15th of the vintage year.  You tell me. 

A lot of Beaujolais Nouveau comes from the green part of the Beaujolais map, below.  Then there is Beaujolais Villages which comes from a hillier section of Beaujolais.  A step up, though the wines do share a characteristic freshness with the Nouveau. 

And at the top of the food chain, we have Cru Beaujolais which are ten communes the wines of which are considered to be so distinctive as to merit their own appellation. 

So why are the wines getting attention now?  It seems that the prior years were not so good.  Was there a lack of focus?  Or a sacrificing of quality in pursuit of profit?  Perhaps complacency set in after the heady days of Beaujolais Nouveau in the 1980’s.  I can’t really say.  And then in 2009, the growing season was exceptionally good with the gamay ripening much earlier than normal and, according to Mrs. Robinson, harvest starting in late August. 

Based on last night’s tasting, the 2009 Cru Beaujolais are worth pursuing and drinking now and for the next few years.

Can one speak of Beaujolais without mentioning the varietal that makes it all happen: Gamay?  Gamay produces a fruity wine with a purply-pink color.  Acidity keeps the fruit fresh and lively on the palate.  If you add a little barrel aging, then you start to get somewhere. 

Beaujolais is located on the southernmost end of Burgundy.  It is bordered on the east by the Saone.  Beaujolais wines tend to get better and are of greater repute in the northern part of Beaujolais.  Thus, generally, the best place is the 10 Cru Beaujolais which are reputed to have the most distinctive production.   One note about shopping for Cru Beaujolais.  The bottles usually highlight the commune of origin, rather than prominently identify the wine as being Beaujolais.  

Although we did not obtain Cru Beaujolais from each of the 10 Villages, we had a representative sampling from 6 of them from North to South as follows:

• Juliénas 
• Moulin-à-Vent
• Chiroubles
• Morgon
• Regniè
• Brouilly

Here in order tasted are the wines we had last night.  Please note, that as there were only 7 of us tasting, we had lots of leftovers which gave me a chance to retaste earlier today.

1.  Henry Fessy Chateau des Reyssiers Regnie 2009: Good nose indicating floral almost lavender-like notes, but the palate did not follow through and the finish seemed a little out of balance.  Rated **

2.  Paul Cinquin Domaine des Braves Regnie 2009: More characteristic Beaujolais nose, delivers a nicely balanced package of fruit.  Rated **1/2

3.  Georges Duboeuf Morgon Jean Descombes 2009: Decent fruit with  minerally quality that established structure throughout.  Rated **

4.  Chateau de Pizay Morgon-2009: Aromas of cherries and kirsch, with a consistent palate that contains a minerally edge (though not as pronounced as the Georges Duboeuf Morgon Jean Descombes) and finishing with fine tannins.  This feels like it can age for a few more years in the bottle would be even better.  **1/2

5.  Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Village 2009: Not a Cru Beaujolais, but it snuck into the tasting.  Fruit-filled nose, palate did not really deliver, and finished off with acid and tannins that were a little intense.   Rated *1/2

6.  Louis Jadot Moulin à Vent Château des Jacques 2009: Inviting nose with floral components, red fruit balanced by acidity and tannin.  After tasting No. 5, this one really sang.  This was the first bottle emptied for the evening.  ** 1/2

7.  Domaine de la Chapelle des Bois Chiroubles-2009   Very attractive all around and good structure on the finish.  Rated **1/2

8.  Terres Dorees L’Ancien Beaujolais (Jean-Paul Brun) 2009 : another non-Cru Beaujolais that snuck into the tasting.  The palate has an attractive dustiness to it that translates into a mouthful of red fruit (think raspberries).  Done in a lighter style, it does not have the same level of concentration as the Cru Beaujolais in the tasting, but it was quite food friendly Rated **

9.  Henry Fessy Moulin à Vent 2009: Fine nose with a palate that showed good concentration.  This is quite comparable to the  Louis Jadot Moulin à Vent Château des Jacques and is another bottle that was drunk quite quickly by last night’s participants.  Rated **1/2

10.  Georges Duboeuf Brouilly 2009: A fruity nose on this wine from the southernmost of the Cru Beaujolais.  It is a very approachable wine that was the softest of the wines tasted.  Soft blueberry like flavors, soft acidity lending a roundness to the wine, and soft tannins.  An enjoyable style.  Rated **1/2

11.  Henry Fessy Julienas 2009: From the northernmost of the Cru Beaujolais at this tasting, this wine had a heavier body and darker appearance than many of the others save for the two wines from Moulin à Vent.  It gets going with a hint of earth on the nose, which if I didn’t know better, could be mistaken for syrah.  But of course, this is Gamay.  On the palate, starts off sweetly but then turns down an acidic alley and delivers a punch of dark fruit and tannins.  What is this– a bad movie from the 70’s?  No it is a good wine that can definitely can be aged for a couple more years without harming it one bit.  It’s a shame this one was opened so late in the evening, as none of us really appreciated it as well as I did in the sip and spit session this morning.  Ah, the joys of leftovers!  Rated **1/2

As for the food last night, I prepared a menu that I thought would marry well with the wines:

Asiago Gougeres

Pan-Seared Sea Scallops with Radicchio Chiffonade Salad

Spaghetti Glicine (with Shallots, Parsley and Vine Ripened Tomatoes)

Grilled Rib Eye with Garlic Mushrooms & Spinach

The Pan-seared scallops were the best.  Not only was the dish tasty, but it was also the most beautiful with colors of purple and green to balance the carmelized seared scallops.  My mouth is watering just thing about this.  Yours will too… I promise.  

Pan-Seared Sea Scallops with Radicchio Chiffonade Salad ©

• 2 lbs. Sea Scallops
• 1/4 cup ground almonds
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• One Head of Red Radicchio cut in a chiffonade (long thin strips)
• 4 Scallions cross-cut on an angle yielding very thin strips of the white and green parts

• 3 Tbsp of Champagne Vinegar (white wine vinegar can be substituted)
• 1 Tbsp Pomegranate Molasses (this is a specialty that is worth searching for.  but if not available, more honey can be added)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I prefer Kalamata olive oil)

1. Prepare the scallops by removing and discarding the tough side muscle from each scallop
2. Wash the scallops in cold water in a colander, pat dry and lay out on a cutting board or plate
3. Season the scallops with salt & pepper
4. Combine the almonds and the minced garlic and place on top of the scallops and set aside
5. Combine the first 3 of the dressing ingredients in a bowl.  Drizzle the EVOO while whisking the dressing.  Adjust the flavors to your liking.  Right before scallops are to be cooked,  dress the salad coating all of the shredded pieces evenly.  Arrange the salad in the center of your serving platter or individual serving plates
6. Heat up a large frying pan until is very hot
7. Add 2 Tbsps. of EVOO
8. When oil is just starting to smoke, place the scallops almond/garlic side down and cook at high heat until they take on a light golden brown color (about 2-3 minutes depending on your stove).  Turn once and cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes.  Do not overcook these as they will lose their tenderness) 
9. Arrange the scallops around the previously plated radicchio salad.
10. Any of the garlic/almond crumbs that remain in the pan can be gathered up with a spoon and sprinkled on top of the salad.

Makes 8 appetizer sized servings or 4 entrée sized servings.

© Sybarite Sauvage

Ce bouquet est parfumé

By happenstance, last week I picked up a copy George M. Taber’s Judgement of Paris, California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting the Revolutionized Wine.  I had no idea when I purchased it that it was the advent of the 35th anniversary of that event.  Today being the day.

Although, I am only about half way through the book, I find it to be an amusing read even if some of the anecdotes that Taber provides to add color about a situation or the personality of a Napa vintner, for instance, seem a little out of place in the text.  But that is a small quibble.  The book captures the essence of California wine country history in a retelling of the events leading up to the historic tasting where American wines, surprisingly, beat out some rather formidable French competition.  But as I think back on that event (of which I was blissfully unaware at that time), I see that the world, and specifically, the world of wine, is a very different place today, a mere 35 years later. 

Although I was too young to imbibe in 1976, in the years that followed, I somehow became aware that American wines had beaten the best France had to offer in a wrestle-mania kind of smackdown.  Hell, let’s face it, anytime we can show the French up, we enjoy it.   

But where was I in 1976?  Working, not that hard, toward a high school diploma, at the Cosmo-Demonic Catholic High School (thank you Henry Miller).  Wine was the last thing on my mind. 

I am grateful to have had two formative moments when it came to wine.  In the late seventies I had my first sweet sip of Fratelli Lambrusco (the cheap drink that started me on this journey) with a girl named JoAnn.  Not to worry, shortly thereafter I graduated from that delightful nectar to Lancers Rosé and then Mateus Rosé (Saddam Hussein’s date-night favorite, apparently).  Let’s not even talk about Riunite wines.  At 19, you can drink anything and and get away with it.

My second wine epiphany came in my first year of law school when I was 23.  I bought a bottle of some inexpensive rhone wine from Louis Jadot back in 1983 to accompany a roast chicken that I made for myself that night.  I must have enjoyed it since I finished the bottle by my lonesome that night.  I probably had Mahler’s Fourth Symphony playing on the stereo that evening.  It was magical!  I vaguely remember stumbling into bed and waking with a mild hangover the next day.  Maybe it wasn’t so mild, but, never mind.  I remember how startled I was that the wine tasted so much better when paired with the student cuisine du jour– my first stumbled-upon and successful pairing.

But I digress.  Why do I care about the Paris tasting?  It turned conventional wisdom upside down, for starters.  Although Prohibition ended in 1933, the aftershocks of those few boozeless years severely damaged the domestic wine industry and the effects of that carried into the 1970s.  Does anyone remember Paul Masson and Gallo jug wines?  That’s pretty much all we had, folks: these were the wines that most people thought of when buying American table wines.  Up to that point, if you were an American wine snob, you only drank French wines. 

The Paris tasting changed that.  Not just for Napa wines (the big winners in the tasting), but ultimately for wines from any number of countries including Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, etc.  That event made people around the world realize that America had something great to contribute to the wine world.  But perhaps, more importantly, it made people in America realize that good wines existed outside of France.  And that is a good thing for someone like me who is always looking for the next exciting region/varietal/producer.

Cheers y Salud!

Wine Tasting Faux Pas No. 1: "Hey, are you wearing cologne?"

Friday May 20th.  What a way to start the weekend! 

Wine at Five proprietor, Cai Palmer, has organized an elegant, yet informal, event at the Wainwright House, located in Rye, NY.  Bottom line: very decent grub, and a nice selection of wines being poured by 12 distributors.  All wines available for purchase, though not all of them at discounts to what you might pay for them elsewhere with a little bit of internet research.  But many of them were well priced.  Still, for a more-than-fair fee of $50 per person it’s tough to go wrong.  Wine at Five is a small, though high quality, store also located in Rye.  Want to learn more?  Check out Cai’s blog (the Wine at Five link is on the left side of this page):  Usually informative, always entertaining. 

Ms. R and I attended the event  last year, loved it, and were anticipating having an even better time this year.  We were not disappointed.  First off the food: an international selection items from Italian charcuterie to paella to barbecued pulled pork to vegetable and chicken skewers.  All quite good, but forgive me for this, Cai, the paella paled in comparison to mom’s.  The pulled pork, however, was excellent. 

During the course of the evening, Cai, ever the gracious host, polled some of his guests, including Ms. R, on the quality of the comestibles.  Their exchange went a little like this:

Cai:  How was the food?

Ms. R:  It sucked. 

Cai:  (expressing momentary look of shock) You’re kidding me!

Ms. R:  (Pauses) Yes I am!

Thanks a lot, Ms. R– Cai will not soon forget you.  It’s a good thing you happen to be charming because this is the only way we will get invited back for next year’s event…

Given the volume of wines being offered, it is difficult to decide where to start.  Thankfully, Cai and his team, distributed the evening’s  catalog of offerings earlier in the week.  So I had a chance to peruse the list and determine which distributors should get my fullest attention.  [Note to Cai– thanks for this, since I missed some good wines last year.]  With 12 different distributors to choose from, you know you will get an eclectic selection of wines and to Cai’s credit, he asked the distributors to pour higher quality wines than they might normally pour for a tasting.  Here were some of my favorite selections of the evening (the distributors are identified in parentheses). 

Table 1 (Soilair Selection): Pietranera Rosso di Montalcino 2008— This was a bit of a surprise.  With a pale color, my expectations for concentration were lowered.  You know who she is: the quiet young thing sitting at the end of the bar in the understated dress.  But this sweet thing was packing some heat underneath that shift.  We’re talking vibrancy of fruit and unexpected earthiness.  Rated **1/2

Table 2 (Acid Inc. Selections): Vaona Odino Valpolicella Classico 2009–another good Italian– but quite different from the Pietranera.  A softer style of wine with good fruit up front balanced by just the right amount of tannin and acidity.   Food friendly and just good on its own.  Rated **1/2

Table 3 (Encore Wines):

• Fontallada Cava Brut Nature (NV)— typical cava with some soft edges and a yeasty bread like finish.  Rated **
• Broc Cellars Vine Starr White 2009— Chardonnay (50%), Rousanne (25%) & Picpoul (25%).   My first reaction “This SOB is from California!?  No way!”  Way, dude, WAY– a native Nebraskan winemaker with a degree in philosophy working with Paso Robles grapes at a Berkeley address.  Perfect, huh?  This is chardonnay for chardonnay haters– I know, we had one with us and she was enamored with this white.  Of the whites I tasted, this was among the ones that showed some elegance.  I’m thinking Rhone.  I’m also thinking buy it.  Rated **1/2
• Sleight of Hand Spellbinder 2009— another one of these kitchen sink blends from the Columbia Valley.  It’s Super Tuscan meet Washington State: Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese & Syrah.  A little something for everyone with good presence and in a nicely balanced package.  Rated **1/2

Table 4 (Felipe Gonzalez-Byass): Beronia Crianza 2007— I have to confess that I like the more classically-styled crianzas.  Restraint, but a lot going on in the bottle.  And at $13, this is one that is bound to make it to No-Guilt Wednesday.  Stay tuned for more.  Rated **1/2

Table 8 (Wildman & Sons): Heitz Cabernet Trailside Vineyard 2001— this is the standout of the  evening– layers of aromas and flavors.  And at 10 years of age, doing that thang the way it should be done.  Not inexpensive at $74, but a damn good wine.  Rated ***1/2

Table 10 (Jerome Selections): Chateau de Callac Prestige 2005— Having tasted the Heitz Cab, this was my favorite affordable wine.  An expressive nose in this Bordeaux blend, but with restrained fruit and balance.  A wine done up in a classical style from the very good 2005 vintage.  The tannins were still a little grippy.  Decant this before you drink it.  I had this rated at little bit better than **1/2, but I don’t think it merits a *** rating, at least not yet.  In time, that may change.  Rated **1/2

How many hands does it take to balance a glass of wine, a plate of paella and um...

Wine Etiquette Observation No. 1: To the subtle woman who smothered herself in perfume shortly before arriving at the tasting, 2 short couplets:

The wines we tasted were most glorious;

Contrary, your bouquet was just odoriferous. 

Your scent, we noticed before you arrived

And taking our leave, we felt revived. 

OK, I’m no Lord Byron, but you get the picture.

Wine Etiquette Observation No. 2: While this was, ostensibly, a wine tasting it seems that different folks arrived with different agendas.  For some, tasting wine was mere pretext.  Flipping through a recent issue of Ebony (and doesn’t everyone read Ebony?  If you don’t, you should.), I came across a comment by a real-life Hitch– the professional pick up artist/wingman who charges clients to show them how to score with the opposite sex in social situations.  He noted that women choose to go to wine tastings to troll for men.  And so they do– I saw some of these women.  They did not look like my friend to the left.  And they certainly couldn’t hold a candle to my wingwoman, Ms. R!

Recently I found myself in a wine shop I had never visited before.  I love new wine shops– always full of the possibility of some great find, a new name I had not heard of before, a new varietal, an up and coming region.   As I trolled my way through the store, at the back, on a shelf marked “Recommended”, I spotted a 2009 Vin de Pays du Vaucluse selected by Kermit Lynch.  Normally I would walk past something like this.  Nothing against Kermit Lynch, but Vin de Pay generally isn’t worth the trouble.  But at $11 a bottle with the endorsement of the establishment right there how could I go wrong?  Let’s see: I bought two bottles.

First tasting: The wine has some nice cherry flavors, tannins are not particularly strong.  However, it felt slightly unbalanced because of the acidity.   Still it was attractive enough that none of the bottle remained at the end of the evening.  With that kind of acidity, I though it would do better with food.  Rated **

For the second tasting of this wine, I paired it with a Moroccan inspired dish.  On my travels to Morocco back in early 2001, I was impressed by the ubiquitous lemon chicken.  I have come up with my own variation of the dish that requires very little actual cooking time though it does require a little bit of  patience while it marinates. 

Second tasting: Even though I decanted the wine this time, my initial impressions were the same as on the first tasting.  However, the magic of a good pairing should never be underestimated.  This budget beauty started to sing.  A little more about this wine: it is a predominantly grenache based wine from the Southern Rhone.  55% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Merlot, 10% Marselan.  The wine never sees the inside of an oak barrel– it’s all about stainless steel and cement cuves*– which helps explain the more pronounced acidity I picked up in the two tastings as well as the minimalism of tannic structure.  And yes, with only 13% alcohol and at $11 a bottle, I am buying more of this juice!  I don’t mean to gush, but this wine is all about delivering value.  Though my heart wants to go higher, my head says hold the rating to ** 1/2

Here is the recipe for Simple Moroccan Inspired Chicken which I made up on the fly earlier this morning before I left for work:

Simple Moroccan Inspired Chicken ©

Ingredients

• 10-12 Chicken legs and/or thighs, seasoned with salt

Marinade Ingredients

• Zest of one lemon minced
• Juice of the same lemon squeezed into a mixing bowl (remove seeds)
• 1 tsp. dried Thyme
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander seed
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Medium sized shallot thinly sliced

1. Place seasoned chicken in a zip lock bag.
2. Whisk together all if the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour into the bag with the chicken. 
3. Close the bag and toss chicken pieces with the marinade till coated.
4. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.  This is easy since you can do this in the morning before you leave for work and it will be waiting for you when you come home.
5. Preheat oven to 350°.
6. Remove chicken from refrigerator 1/2 hour before cooking and place in roasting pan.
7. Bake for 35 minutes.
8. The chicken should be done at this point.  However an optional step to ensure browning of skin, is to place the chicken under the broiler for 3-5 minutes until the skin turns golden brown.

Serve this with a simple buttered couscous and a rocket salad.  You’ll be living large baby!

Sybarite Sauvage ©

Cheers y Salud!

*Cuve is the French word for a vat or tank.  A cuve may be made of any material including wood, concrete or stainless steel.