Rediscover Beaujolais

I recently had the pleasure of tasting some of the 2009 Beaujolais wines and was amazed by the quality. It is said to be the finest Beaujolais vintage since 1948, which I am not quite old enough to vouch for, but it is certainly the best vintage I have tasted.

I am sure most people reading this will think of Beaujolais as thin wine lacking body, most of which is released early as Beaujolais Nouveau is October/November. Certainly there has been too much of this wine produced in the past and thin wine continues in some of the well known names you find in the supermarkets. These wines are often picked at minimum ripeness and undergo chapitalisation (adding sugar) to increase the alcohol content.

In recent years however there has been a revival amoung small domaines to make denser wines true to their terroir which can rival the more lauded wines of Burgundy to the north. The small artisan producers we work with produce wines of real depth and character far removed from the mass produced pale wines of the large producers.

Beaujolais lies in the east of France betweeen the Rhone Valley to the south and Burgundy in the north. The wines are made exclusively from the Gamay grape on pricipally granite soil, but with important variations within the sub regions. The winemaking is unusual in that it involves semi-carbonic maceration where whole bunches of grapes arrive at the vineyard and start to ferment at the bottom from the weight of grapes on top. This helps give some of the distinctive aromas found in Beaujolais.

About half of all production is sold as the basic appellation Beaujolais, a quarter as Beaujolais-Villages and the remainder named after the communes or Crus where they are considered distinctive enough to have their own appellation.

At Talking Wines we only stock wines made at the domaine with producers making distinctive wine true to its origins. This currently includes the following Beaujolais Crus.

Moulin-A-Vent Gerard Charvet 2009 £11.99
Fleurie Les Roches Lucien Lardy 2008 £11.99
Morgon Vielles Vignes Domaine Laurent Gauthier 2006 £9.99
Brouilly Domaine Champier 2007 £10.50

Each have subtle differences due to the soil types, location and winemaking. These wines along with our ever-popular Beaujolais Emmanuel Mandrillon 2009 (£8.50) represent an excellent range of wines to discover the real Beaujolais. I hope you will join me on Saturday 15th May to try some of the wines for yourself.

The Rhone Valley

Many wine drinkers will declare Shiraz as one of their favourite red grape varieties, but few associate the variety with its home in the Rhone Valley where it is known as Syrah.

To be precise, the northern Rhone is the true home of Syrah where the red wines are almost exclusively made from this variety. Here the wines are charcterised by the peppery spice and most notably the smooth, silky tannins that can give superb length to the wines. The famous names of St Joseph, Hermitage and Crozes Hermitage are fine examples of Syrah at its best.

If the northern Rhone is relatively simple to understand, then the southern Rhone region is much more complicated. Here Syrah is an important variety but Grenache is the most prevalent, with Mouvedre and Carignan also widespread together with several other varieties in the blends.

The region is also classified by area and quality. Cotes du Rhone is the first level, followed by Cotes du Rhone Village with the most famous appelations being Gigondas, Vacqueras and Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

One of the producers we have teamed up with in the Rhone is Paul Jaboulet. For some time we have listed the excellent Crozes Hermitage 'Les Jalets'. Les Jalets is old French for the pebbles left by Alpine glaciers. The wines has intense aromas of Autumn berries with elegant smooth tannins whlist retaining the slight rustic edge that identifies it as Crozes Hermitage terroir.

From the southern Rhone the Petit Jaboulet is 100% Syrah classified as Vins de Pay, offering excellent value at £6.99. We have also added two new Jaboulet wines from the Cotes du Rhone - Paralelle 45. The white wine is a blend of Grenache Blanc and Viognier showing wonderful aromas with a well balanced rich yet crisp palate. The red has great fleshy, ripe berry fruit and good length. These two wines are a great addition to our Rhone range and at £8.99 represent excellent value.

After Pinot Grigio, What next?

Over recent years Pinot Grigio has been the white grape of choice for many wine drinkers. The appeal of Pinot Grigio is it can be a fresh, easy drinking, mildly fruity wine that is not too challenging on the taste buds. A good glugging wine on a hot summers day. Alas many Pinot Grigios can be bland in the extreme with almost a complete lack of flavour.

The recent phenomonen follows a well trodden path which started with the sweet German wines of the seventies, heavily oaked Australian Chardonnay of the nineties through to the confected sweet white Zinfandels of today. Maybe not the most glorious of wines in the past, but what of the future?

If I could predict future trends then I probably wouldn't be in this job, but I can offer a few suggestions as to which white varieties are becoming more popular and who knows, might replace Pinot Grigio in the future. Sauvignon Blanc of course rivals Pinot Grigio's popularity and can offer zingy crisp fresh whites with bags of gooseberry and citrus flavours such as False Bay Sauvignon Blanc to the sophisticated smokey, flinty Pouilly Fume such as Domaine Pierre Marchand. Sauvignon from New Zealand's Marlborough region remains popular and with more production, prices here are beginning to ease.

Aromatic white wines are also becoming more popular. Albarino has a close following, but because it only thrives in the hills of Rias Baxias in north west Spain, it will never reach a price that will meet the mass market. Viognier has also become more popular with wine such as Santa Rosa Viognier from Argentina producing the floral, rich character of Viognier whilst retaining the fresh acidity. Slightly more aromatic is Torrontes from Argentina which has a rich texture and a hint of spice on the finish.

Chenin Blanc from South Africa has the right blend of freshness, subtle aromas and good body that could prove a winning combination (try Lutzville Chenin Blanc). It can also be produced at an affordable price that could rival Pinot Grigio.

Chardonnay for all its bad press of late remains the most produced white variety with the most variety of styles. From fresh unoaked peachy fruit to rich creamy oaked wines. It is also one of the few white varieties with ageing potential.

As for myself, I crave a bit of variety where white wine drinkers ask for a variety of different styles and keep us all on our toes. I'll raise a glass of Vermentino to that.

The American Wine Challenge

It is a real challenge for a UK wine merchant to put together a reasonably priced good quality range of American wines. They seem to produce endless quantities of undrinkable Gallo and Blossom Hill and some very sought after premium wines, but in the mid-range where most wine drinkers are looking to buy, there is a lack of wines offering the right quality at the right price.

There are a number of reasons for this. Not least is the fact that many American producers can sell all they produce for good prices at home, so why bother exporting to the demanding and highly competitve UK wine market? Exchange rate fluctuations have also played their part. In addition the style of the wines, which are often heavily oaked and full bodied, have become less appealing to UK tastes in recent years.

Recently however, I have had the pleasure of finding a few wines that meet the criteria we are looking for. Well balanced wines with enough character to be representative of their origin and offering good value, these are some of the best value wines from Calaifornia.

The three wines we have added to the range come from two vineyards now owned by the Boisset family from Burgundy. Their influence in the style of the wines is clear with elegance and subtle use of oak often absent in wines from this region. The De Loach vineyards are located in the Russian River Valley and were originally planted in 1973. The De Loach California Series Chadonnay has melon and pear aromas and retains freshness with tropical fruit flavours and a hint of spice. The De Loach Zinfandel has plenty of ripe fruit, yet is well balanced with good acidity and smooth, rich tannins.

The Lyeth vineyards are located in another prized loction, Sonoma, where prices are usually eye wateringly high. The L de Lyeth Merlot has great complexity and offers tremendous value for money for this region. It is rich and full with black cherry, raspberry and plum flavours with a great soft texture and herby notes.

Added to our existing wines from Columbia Crest in Washington State and Clos du Val in the Napa Valley, it is worth another look at our American offerng.