A Wine Lover's Near Weekly Guide To $15 Wines - A 2013 Beaujolais Villages Nouveau
Previously a marketing smash, the new wine phenomenon has become more and more of a yawn in the last several years. It's still too early in the season for boring statistics, but fewer and fewer people anxiously await the third Thursday in November, once a great excuse for parties. This offering is a so-called-top-of-the-line Beaujolais Villages Nouveau. Like the other new wines, it was raw grapes only a few short weeks ago. The producer is known as the King of Beaujolais and is arguably the single person most responsible for the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon. At the time of this writing his web site did not refer to the 2013 offering. Just in case you didn't know, the Gamay grape used for this wine was banned in the neighboring region of Burgundy centuries ago. The companion wine is a Vino Novello from unidentified grapes grown in the central Italian region of Abruzzi, costing about two thirds as much.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Georges DuBoeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2013 12 % alcohol about $15.
There were no specific marketing materials and the back label was oh so silent. And now for my review.
At the first sips this wine was quite short and harshly acidic. It was thin and provided almost no fruit. For starters I had some homemade soup containing lima beans, quinoa, onions, black pepper, and cumin. In response the BV came back with acidity and more acidity. And then the dreaded taste of bubble gum came out of the woodwork. Barbecued chicken wings with paprika dusted skin kept up the bubble gum in my glass but the acidity was now rounded. In response to a barbecued chicken leg the drink was harsh and raw, or should I say raw and harsh? A few dollops of commercially prepared Matabucha Salad, consisting of tomatoes, tomato paste, red peppers, and various and sundry spices gave me a little taste of black cherries. In response to fresh blackberries, the libation was dark but weak.
My next meal started off with Japanese rice crackers with lots of Wasabi peas. In response our French friend was sweet and pleasant with darkness lurking in the background. But when paired with slow-cooked round steak the wine's acidity returned to the fore and it was thin and raw. The accompanying white potatoes rendered this liquid sweet and sour. Slathering lots of Yemeni jalapeno pepper sauce on the meat managed to return that obnoxious taste of bubble gum to these newly fermented grapes.
The third meal was an omelet spiced up with a combination of cilantro, cumin, cayenne pepper, and caraway seeds. In response the libation offered dark cherries, and was relatively long, but harsh. When it met the sliced red bell peppers, the juice was as raw as the peppers. The other side dish of Humus with Greek olives sweetened and softened the wine. The last of the tastings was with fruit juice candy. And now the new wine was weak but relatively pleasant. I noted freshness. But this was too little, too late. And who on earth buys a wine to pair with fruit juice candy?
Final verdict. This is perhaps among the better new wines. But when the tastings were done I had no compunction whatsoever about pouring the remainder of the bottle down the drain.
About the Author
In his younger days Levi Reiss wrote or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but he prefers drinking fine German or other wine with the right foods and the right people. He teaches 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.
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here