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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Whither thou goest, Beaujolais Nouveau?
No less than the “King of Beaujolais,” wine producer Georges Duboeuf, proclaimed the 2009 vintage that was released last Thursday one of the best Beaujolais vintages in the last 50 years.
Maybe it was poor timing on my part, but it was hard to find the enthusiasm last Thursday when I stopped in at Arrow Wine & Spirits’ Far Hills Avenue store on the way home from work at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 19, the nouveau “release day” when wine shops around Dayton and the world cracked open the first wines of 2009 and offer samples throughout the day. At a time and place where I once found robust crowds tasting nouveaus, I found very few tasters. Has the enthusiasm for nouveau Beaujolais evaporated?
The vintage, however, mostly lived up to the hype. The 2009s across the board were more enjoyable than at least the last several vintages.
I tasted through four newly released 2009 Nouveau Beaujolais. The winner for me was the Domaine Rochette Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ($14.99), which had a touch of a tannin and tasted more like a non-nouveau Beaujolais — it’s simply good red wine.
I also liked the Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais Nouveau ($14.99), which seemed to have a bit more fruit and depth than the two less expensive nouveaus, from Bouchard and Georges Duboeuf (both $10.99). Still, all four were a step up from previous vintages.
The wines are “Thanksgiving-friendly,” and widely available. If you like the nouveau style, it’s a fine year to buy — even if the nouveau hoopla itself seems to be losing steam.
Anybody else try these wines?
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