A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wine - A Gamay Nouveau From France, 2012
Once a marketing phenomenon, the coming of the new wines has turned into quite a virtual yawn in the last several years. I won't bore you with statistics, but an ever declining number of people wait with baited breath for the third Thursday in November, once the sign for great parties. Maybe I'm just aging. Maybe not. This offering actually comes from a major French Beaujolais Nouveau producer. But it is not a Beaujolais, it's a Gamay Nouveau (that's the same grape) from the Ardeche region of southwestern France. This area is in the famous Rhone Valley, but don't expect a fine Rhone wine at this price. You must remember, this is a new wine, which means it was grapes only a few months ago. This area is quite rural for France and is highly recommended for canoers and kayakers. Or you can visit the DuBoeuf wine theme park in the not so far Beaujolais region. The companion wine is a Beaujolais Village Nouveau at half again the price.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Georges Duboeuf Gamay Nouveau Vin de Pays de l'Ardeche 2012 12 % alcohol about $9.
There were no specific marketing materials and the back label is silent so let's get right on to my review.
At the first sips this wine presented light acidity and bubble gum. Surprise, surprise, there were no tannins. It was raw. Japanese rice crackers sharpened its acidity and imparted some sweetness to the liquid. A barbecued chicken leg softened its acidity and added a bit of lime to the drink. A barbecued chicken breast sharpened the Gamay's acidity once again and provided some metal. A packaged Turkish salad composed of sweet pimento, tomato paste, dried parsley, hot peppers, vinegar, and spices muted this wine into a dark tinge. Candy made from fruit juice and fruit puree actually rendered the new kid pleasant in the background.
My next meal centered on a packaged Baked Ziti Siciliano that I liberally doused with grated Parmesan cheese. Now the libation was dark and had some length accompanied by a little chocolate. At first I thought that the bubble gum was gone. Wishful thinking, but it was weaker. In the face of fresh strawberries the wine, if that's what you want to call it, was barely present. My other dessert was Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream. Now my glass's contents were sweetish with light acidity; not a good match.
The third meal was an omelet spiced with a combination of basil, thyme, sliced garlic, cumin, crushed red chili peppers, and Portabello mushrooms. The Gamay was grapey and fairly sweet with a bit of a burnt taste. It sharpened in the face of grape tomatoes.
Final verdict. As always, this new wine didn't even come close. And yet I will buy something similar next year.
About the Author
Over the years Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but really prefers drinking fine German wine, along with friends and the right foods. He teaches sundry computer classes at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his global wine website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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