Tag: Beaujolais

Laurence & Remi Dufaitre Côte de Brouilly 2015

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn BeaujolaisLeave a comment

2018-11-03 Laurence and Remi Dufaitre Côte de Brouilly 2015.jpg

This might be my best Beaujolais experience yet.

Wonderful aroma and flavor of Bourgogne.

I might be getting “used to” this stuff.

Excellent paleness and acidity.

All I need is a roasted duck.

Too bad because I’m having
soy glazed “beef bits” on
Ciabatta.

The wine clocked in at $27 and
is definitely worth the extra
few bucks I paid over my usual
bottle price average.

Here’s a link to the tech sheet…

Click to access SP4DU.pdf

I was 99.9999% sure that this
is Beaujolais (as opposed to PN),
but I had to look it up to be sure.

But, but, but, what does the wine
TASTE LIKE.

French Bourgogne wine?

Pale cherry coke?

Who cares.

I’m in heaven.

Is that “minerality” hiding
behind the shy fruit?

I didn’t see anything on the tech sheet
about the wine being filtered through
greensand.

This MIGHT BE the first time I noticed
minerality in a red wine.

And then there’s the quality that
allows the wine to linger during a
“leisurely lunch”.

One of my “life fantasies” is the
concept of Cooking/Eating/Drinking
in a continuous and simultaneous
process carried out at a snail’s
pace.

Imagine sipping Chard, eating Petit
Basque cheese, and chopping onions
while the meat browns SLOWLY in the
skillet as you sit on the patio
watching the moon rise.

It shouldn’t be THAT hard to keep
just three balls in the air.

This wine can be sipped slowly because
it is SO SATISFYING.

My Sino-European lunch concoction
was “unusual”.

This concludes episode one of
“The Edge of Rosé”.

Stay tuned for
“As Brouilly Turns”…

https://www.discoverbeaujolais.com/discover-the-wines/intense-and-generous/cote-de-brouilly/

OK, OK, it’s diorite.

And my pick for a traditional
pairing…

https://www.discoverbeaujolais.com/portfolios/croque-monsieur/

Day Two…

I’m sipping this wine today to
relieve the stress of DST ending.

To my pleasure, I was greeted by
a substantial amount of “sludge”
at the bottom of the bottle.

Amazing.

This has been a wonderful treat.

Hang in there.

Michel et Sylvain Tete Clos du Fief Juliénas Tradition 2015

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Beaujolais, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-07-23 Michel et Sylvain Tete Clos du Fief Juliénas Tradition 2015.jpg

It’s soooo nice to be
back.

First impressions of this
one are a WELCOME pecan
shell astringency and
SURPRISING jammy fruit
flavor.

This might be the best
CruB that I have had.

For the past two years
or so I have been going
to the games, but now
I want a front row seat.

Sheesh.

The first CruB that I tried
was “more acidic” than I
expected and was a bit hard
to adjust to.

I would like to see how I
react to that wine now.

THIS wine has the astringency
that I miss in my beloved PN.

Maybe it’s because I shy
away from oak.

I DON’T KNOW.

It seems to me like the
tannins are in the grapes
as opposed to being
acquired from excessive oak.

I don’t taste a lot of oak.

Maybe it’s grape vine stemminess.

I used to “harvest” my
grape vine trimmings so
that I had plenty of this
kind of aged wood for smoking
hibachi grilled meat.

THAT was good stemminess.

It looks like I paid
up A LITTLE to get
this particular wine.

Good for me.

Maybe now I’m remembering
taking extra time to look
at the CruB offerings
with an eye toward expanding
my CruB experience.

As I try to wean myself
off of this wine for today,
I AM NOTICING a bit of
gaminess or that Gina Carano
tennie odor.

Slightly distracting maybe,
but definitely seductive.

It’s something I would
be hoping to find in Gamay.

For the uninitiated…

Here’s a link on
the Skurnik site for
the 2016 vintage…

https://www.skurnik.com/sku/julienas-cuvee-tradition-michel-tete-2-2-2/

And a Wine.com review
for the 2015 vintage…

https://www.wine.com/product/domaine-michel-tete-julienas-cuvee-tradition-2015/295078

Day Two…

When you know that
you are going to have
THIS wine for lunch, then
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH?

Lazy C4+1 Potatoes

“C” clues…
C1) potato configuration
C2) texture
C3) anti-braising liquid
C4) flavor enhancement technique
C5) cookware type

I can’t believe that
anything this stupid and
simple can be so good.

The potatoes, not the wine.

The wine is neither stupid
nor simple.

Maybe I should drink MORE
of this kind of wine to
see if will rub off on me.

The wine seemed a bit
“thicker” today.

(Maybe I rubbed off on
the wine.)

The “astringency” is still
present and accounted for.

Possibly as a result of
being influenced by the links
above, I get the “earthy” thing.

The last few sips of this
one are really tanning my
mouth.

Excellent.

————–

Again, for the uninitiated…

I had to go back to the big
Wine atlas to get my CruB bearings.

A DETAILED explanation of
CruB is above my pay grade,
but I at least want to get
a fix on where this particular
wine came from.

The Beaujolais area is in
the SOUTHERN part of the
broader Burgundy area.

(I keep reminding myself.)

Juliénas is one of the ten
“crus” and is in the north
of the Cru Beaujolais area.

Here’s a nice site that might
help you get your bearings…

https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/a-personality-guide-to-the-10-crus-of-beaujolais-with-regional-map/

I’m having a hard time
throwing the EMPTY bottle away.

Hang in there.

Domaine Gaget Vinum Memoria Beaujolais-Villages

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn BeaujolaisLeave a comment

Holy Moly.

I just woke up inside a giant green pepper and
have to lick my way out.

Was that a nightmare or a wine tasting note?

I’ll sip on it a while to see how it tastes
when I can breathe again.

This is very strange.

The nose doesn’t betray the goofy character.

The internet is not much help on this one.

The importer’s web page is under construction
and the producer’s web page doesn’t show this
exact label.

I’m hoping that the chicken picatta (yes, again,
but it is delicious) can tame the green monster.

After the opening nibbles it’s Capers: 2, Capsicum: 2.

Behind the “costuming” there appears to be a light
and friendly wine that I can enjoy.

Capers: 4, Ogre: 2.

I ASSUME that I can taste the tannins that MIGHT
come from an UNFILTERED wine.

And the nose is rotten eggs. Fetching.
(This was fleeting and not a distraction.)

Still, there’s something to be said for “confusion”.

This would be a good wine for the cats to review.

At the half…

Capers: 4, Ogre: 144.

Maybe Pepper Steak or Veal Vesuvius would work with
this wine.

I declare this wine to be “out of balance” and not to
my liking.

Today anyway. I’ll have half of this one to drink tomorrow.

I can’t wait.

And if I’m not redeemed, I’ll be screaming to the Foris man to
make me holy again…

What did you think this song was about?

Day Two Battle Plan…

1: Feint with little green olives and
cheese sandwiches to draw fire.

2: Assault head-on with rosemary smashed potatoes.

3: Raise a victory flag or retreat.

The monster slipped on the olives, fell to the ground and
ripped of his Shrek suit as the olives started creeping
up his legs.

He should be an easy mark with his shield down.

I might not make it to the taters.

While the monster squirms in the dust, I start
daydreaming that I’m munching on raw cowpeas in
the hull. (The peas are in the hull, not me. That
would be silly.)

Something a little less peppery than yesterday and
a bit more earthy. BUT STILL GREEN.

I called off the olives and the monster is smiling now.

The acidity reminds me of my first Cru Beaujolais. I’m “learning”
that this is a hallmark of Beaujolais. I asked for it,
but it takes some getting used to.

Then there is the issue of “location”. Why am I drinking
Beaujolais-Villages vs. Cru Beaujolais?

If price is the reason, then this is another case
(Chablis coming to mind) where I would want to seriously
consider the higher pedigree when choosing a wine from the area.

I’m just not THAT “educated” about Beaujolais YET. I might
have to go to school again so that I can become more “particular”
when shopping for Beaujolais.

This wine was challenging, but still, I enjoyed it.

I would not have enjoyed any other wine as much as I enjoyed
this wine, on this day. It was just a harder mountain to climb.

My Wine Appreciation Number jumped another notch higher.