Beaujolais has always worked for me. Soft and luscious. Distinctive cardinal purple leading to immense depths of ripe 'cherry and banana fruit' bouquets; palates where fruitiness just never seems to end. This is Summer Time Personified. Sunshine in the Bottle. Need I go on? Absolutely. It has the Gamay grape all to itself. That makes it unique. Need I go on?
Well, maybe I do. Until recently the above descriptors applied only to a minority of the wines on sale from the Beaujolais region. Far too often colours were dilute, bouquets were overripe banana and palates were insipid 'fruit juiciness' efforts. I often felt that a three month aged Beaujolais Nouveau offered the best value from the region - most likely at a discounted price!!
What's changed? I think buyers have become a lot more discerning. They still want value but as importers they seem to have put sufficient pressure on producers to 'up their game' and to stop lopping everything into the Vats of Nouveau Soup just to earn a quick buck. That quick buck was ruining the reputation of the entire region.
This week I was really pleased to see that the trade marketing body InterBeaujolais was in Dublin to present a 'Beaujolais Trade Masterclass' titled 'The Glory of Gamay' and also to show at Taste of Dublin.
The twelve wines shown were excellent. See below for the full blow by blow of the lineup. They would restore anyones belief in the Beaujolais region as one of development and reward. Hopefully the recent small vintage won't impact on pricing too much.
This was a fine event and we should be grateful that marketing bodies, such as InterBeaujolais, make the time and funds available for events such as these in Ireland.
Was this a Masterclass? No, it was not. It was a well run event that showed 12 fine wines.
What makes a Masterclass as opposed to this event?
Well, for a start the term 'Wine Masterclass' is being abused far too often these days. A Wine Tasting is
not a Wine Masterclass.
In the case of this event the lecturer was, unfortunately, hung out to dry by both the title 'Masterclass' and the value of the content in the power point presentation. The content was simplistic in the extreme, at variance to the printed material we were given and poorly organised in terms of the wines being presented. It all ended up as a reading exercise of facts that contradicted each other. In addition, there were quite a few inaccuracies presented as fact and far too many basics not properly explained. InterBeaujolais can fix these easily. They should, because the wines that they are now showing deserve the fix.
The Wines: they are all available for sale in Ireland.
1. Beaujolais, Chardonnay Classic, Jean Paul Brun, Domaine de Terres Dorees €16.50 Wines Direct
A white Beaujolais! A rarity. A really excellent wine. Brun it seems is an organic wine maker. Everything about this is special. Love it.
2. Beaujolais, Les Brecots, Domaine Thorin, €10.99 BWG Spar
Simple but good introduction to the region. Dark edge to its purple colour; jam and banana fruits, soft smooth palate, well structured.
3. Beaujolais-Villages, Domaine de Marrans, €15.95 Quinntessential Wines
Everything here works really well except maybe for the end of the mid palate where its a bit volatile. Love its edge of sherbet and honeyed nose.
4. Chiroubles, Domaine Berrod, €14.75 McCambridge Premium Wines
Safe wine with tons of soft cherry fruits and light honeysuckle. Soft and light.
5. Regnie, Domaines Rochette, €11.55 James Nicholson (It's a pity this price was wrong as it would have made it the best value in the tasting! Seems that someone forgot the tasting was in Dublin. Is this the Sterling price from Northern Ireland based wine merchant James Nicholson? Not really. His web site lists the Euro and Sterling prices as £10.79 and €16.50 with no mention of 11.55 anywhere at all.)
Great wine. Damp earth and coca cola effect - believe me it works! I would remember Beaujolais by the affect this wine alone had on my palate. Superb cherry and raspberry finish.
6. Fleurie, Chateau de Fleurie, Maison Loron, €17.99 O'Briens Wines Off Licence
I've always liked this wines' ability to deliver warmth, softness, depth and yumminess. Big mouthfull of well structured soft Gamay fruit.
7.
Fleurie, Domaine des Nugues, €15 to €17.00, Charles Derain
Tremendous contrast to Ch de Fleurie. This is atypical and brilliant. This is light peach and cherry with an immense palate of a fleshy, fruit forward and extremely well structured fruit. Really good food wine.
8. Brouilly, Henry Fessy, €17.50 Febvre & Co.
Fessy seldom disappoints. This however all came across a bit soft and ordinary. It didn't help that the Nugues Fleurie was so good but a good Morgon should follow a Fleurie with ease. This one struggled to make an impact.
9. Cote de Brouilly, Jean Paul Brun Domaine des Terre Dorees €18.25 Wines Direct
Stylish and delivering quality fruit. Love the soft palate and lenghty finish. Preferable to no 8. Cote de Brouilly is a more elevated appellation than Brouilly itself and produces a more long lived wine.
10. Julienas, Moulin Berger, €15.95 The Wine Buff
Without knocking the lights out everything about this wine is smooth and likeable. This is very much a 'pretty' wine with endless fruit.
11. Morgon, Cote de Py, Domaine Rochette, 2011 €13.50 James Nicholson (Real price is €18.50 or £13.95)
Cardinal purple and a fantastic nose with layers and layers of alert quality fruit. Palate seems overextracted and jumps a bit on the volatile side. Overall though it works well.
12. Moulin a Vent, Boucherd Pere et Fils, €21.50, Tindal Wine Merchants
A proper powerhouse for a Beaujolais! Very impressive. Savoury and vegetal edges to the primary fruits where violets intermingle with raspberry and cherry notes. Quite a drying tannic finish suggest food is a necessity here.
