Nouveau Beaujolais-Any Pre-release Reviews?

[catspercapita]

Anyone have the inside scoop on this years production? I always look forward to some NB at Thanksgiving.

[sunshine842]

I've begun to hear whisperings that it will be pretty good.

But here (pushes the bottle across the table) -- you can have mine. I'll wait til the rest of the harvest is ready to drink.

[Ricardo Malocchio]

The 2009 vintage is supposed to be spectacular, but I would STRONGLY advise you to spend your Beaujolais dollar on the crus. I have a pre-release order in on several, including 3 bottlings of Burgaud, the most expensive of which (the Cote du Py) is only $13.50, and the others $10-12.

True, something like the Lapierre Morgon will cost you $20 or more - a steal for juice this good - but there are so many $10-15 bargains in cru Beaujolais that it's quite simply among the very best wine deals going. That's especially true if you get in on the pre-arrival deals that are, ahem, pouring forth even as I write this!

The nouveau stuff is, well, crap. Frankly, little more than a marketing ploy. And almost as expensive as the good stuff. Which makes it one of the biggest ripoffs in the wine world.

[RicRios]

"The nouveau stuff is, well, crap. Frankly, little more than a marketing ploy. And almost as expensive as the good stuff. Which makes it one of the biggest ripoffs in the wine world."

Very true.
However, BN does have the 3 key features required to succeed in the wine world: Marketing, Marketing and Marketing ( w/ capital M ).

Case at hand: a very close recent cousin, the Italian "Vino Novello", infinitely more enjoyable than BN, is pretty much unknown outside of Italy.

[catspercapita]

Thanks for the tip. I will look for Cru and ask around for Cote du Puy. I don't claim to be a sophisticated drinker but I did spend a few years in Paris and I remember that the French did look forward to, and celebrate the Beaujolais Nouveau each November. But, perhaps because I was young at the time, and enjoyed everything as a party, I do not remember too accurately. Then, even a chien chaud tasted pretty good. Even so, I won't cast a "bad eye" on the Beaujolis Nouveau. Ciao

[Steve_K]

"The 2009 vintage is supposed to be spectacular, but I would STRONGLY advise you to spend your Beaujolais dollar on the crus"

2009 was a great vintage in Beaujolais, but the release coming on the 18th is of 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau. Hail damaged crops in July so yields are down, but warm and dry conditions in September allowed the grapes to ripen fully (if later than usual). It should be 'typical' as BN goes, but I'd still not bother with it.

[ChefJune]

heheheheh. I remember one summer when the deli/all-purpose store near our cabana was selling the previous year's BN and telling everyone how good it was. I laughed out loud and asked if that was the reason they had so much of it left.

I'll buy one bottle of Duboeuf's because a friend of mine designed the label this year. It's pretty, and I'll then use the bottle for a bud vase. The wine should be okay to dump into a Daube.

[redmeatfan]

Yes it is marketing and the people drinking it slam it and don't taste it any way. If you think about it most wine is marketing. Look at the sucess of yellow tail, two buck chuck, mondavi private selection, etc. They are in magazines and they are cheap which is a good recipe for selling wine.

I love the people who go to Napa and go to Korbel, Beringer, Mondavi, Hess, etc. They are the people buying the BN.

[Midlife]

<Yes it is marketing and the people drinking it slam it and don't taste it any way.>

How do you drink wine without tasting it? Straight down the gullet from a bota bag?

[redmeatfan]

Midlife most people don't move the wine around in your mouth and only hit the tip of the tongue. If you remember the sides of your tongue are sour and back is bitter which is almost all wine so maybe you should try moving the wine around in your mouth as it will make a difference on what you taste.

[Midlife]

I have owned/operated a wine shop with a large wine bar as part of it and I'm very well aware of the proper way to taste wine. I've taken many classes over the years and taught a few as well. I would counter that 'tasting' and 'tasting correctly' are two different things, and that you didn't make that distinction in your comment.

I would also be hard-pressed to accept the suggested notion that people who say they enjoy Yellow Tail (and the like) can do so because they don't really taste it properly. I've conducted hundreds of wine tastings and have watched more than enough people conclude they love or don't like the exact same wine, from the same bottle, to conclude that there's more to that than the method of tasting. It's the wine, AND the palate experience/sensitivity of the taster that makes most of the difference. Studies have shown that taste buds and their impact vary widely between individuals.

[sunshine842]

I think the point was that BN is just the beverage of the day, and people drink it because it's in their glass.

Not much sniffing or swirling or trilling or chewing going on -- they're just drinking it with as much thought and pondering as if it were Coca Cola.

[Midlife]

What I find is that the majority of people are not aware of the true nature of Beaujolais Nouveau and taste it (or not) the same way they would any other wine. I was just involved in a tasting Thursday evening and hardly anyone seemed to get that "serious" wine folks don't think much of it. To most it tasted like any other light, relatively inexpensive red wine. It was Villages and they said it tasted better than many <$10 wines they compared it to.

[sunshine842]

I think it's somewhat regional, too -- here in France, everyone knows it's been in the bottle just a few weeks, and no one expects much from it...so they just drink it without a huge amount of thought.

The BN is more an occasion to have a party than anything.

[Midlife]

Absolutely. Here in California most people don't know it's "vinatage last month" and don't care that much when they find out. Like most of the general population they go by whether they like it or not.

[catspercapita]

Had some today. Nice bottle of L'ancien Nouveau Beaujolais 2010. Very nice. Unassuming,easy and fun. Goes well with friends and dinner. Also picked up some Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissous Cuvée Traditionnelle. Have yet to try it but it was recommended. Bring on the Holidays!

[RicRios]

Chermette is a completely different ballgame.

Says David Schildknecht :

"Pierre Chermette has successfully expanded from his base in southern Beaujolais without quality in any way suffering; on the contrary his mastery of the northern Beaujolais crus is now also a fait accompli. With the new generation coming on and with lots of new plans, following these wines – which, of course, includes in your own cellar – is going to continue to be exciting. Prices have crept upward, but given the quality – not to mention the labors needed to achieve it – one can hardly complain."

I just bought his Vissoux 2008 Fleurie Poncie. Absolutely outstanding. Again Schildknecht :

"The Vissoux 2008 Fleurie Poncie offers palate-staining black fruits and serious grip, with iodine and peat, rose hip and cherry pit; and as usual for this site, salt and stone lending intriguing complexity. The sheer lip-smacking juiciness on display here can draw your attention from its complexity. Cellar it for at least 4-5 years. "

[sunshine842]

Worth a mention underlining that Beaujolais and Beaujolais NOUVEAU are not the same thing. There are many wonderful Beaujolais, but not very much BN that's drinkable.

[redmeatfan]

Try but at $15 bucks for real Beaujolais there are many better world options such as New World Pinot especially on closeouts.

[Ricardo Malocchio]

In the end it's all a matter of personal taste, of course, but I've found few wines outside of cru-B (maybe some Loire Valley gamays like Jean Francois Merieau's Tourraine) that give you a touch of that Burgundian funk, finesse, and crunchy red berry in a seriously food-enhancing wine at this price point.

Conversely, I've never found a bargain priced new world pinot noir that doesn't taste like cola syrup and jolly rancher with lashings of hot alcohol and never-to-be-integrated new oak. And that also describes many of the pricey new world pinots I've tasted. I'm thinking right now of an uncomfortable tasting this past year with the genuinely nice Byron Kosuge when I kept straining for something positive to say about his horrible, horrible oak and syrup monstrosities.

Definitely willing to take recommendations here - I mean, there MUST be $15 new world pinots that I could love, right? I have to admit, I've given up trying on my own.