Edible Tulip

Beaujolais Nouveau

I had no idea there was this global hysteria among wine lovers at 12:01 a.m. on the third Thursday of every November. I feel like a bit of a doozy as I worked at Vintages Head Office years ago and I lived in Burgundy France where I worked for a vineyard owning family and most importantly I'm a wine lover. Not a geek, and certainly not an afficianado, just straightforward adulation for the liquid that makes me oh so happy every night around 6 p.m.

In a nutshell, Beaujolais Nouveau is bottled right after fermentation without aging. It isn't a wine you keep around; it should be drunk within 3 months. So last night was my first introduction into this ritual that's been around since WWII. It's made from gamay grapes and is a purplish-red light hue, but what does it taste like, you ask?, well, white wine. My first sip was actually misleading. I had poured the wine into a glass that still had a mouthful of Trius Dry Riesling in it (and this is one of the freshest, tartest tasting white wines I've ever had) so I was certain it was ruined. I took a sip and it tasted fresh and tart and unlike any red wine I have ever drunk. I poured another glass wanting to taste it for what it really was and it was fresh and tart and tasted just like the first glass mixed in with the riesling. That is what it tastes like, a very fresh, slightly mouth puckering wine that is as far from the tannin filled, headache inducing, dry mouth at a cocktail party cheap reds of my 20s and equally as far from the subtle earthiness of the reds I now like so much - Portuguese Colheitas, Italian Merlots, Sicilian Nero D'Avola's. It's meant to be served chilled and is thus not the perfect dinner wine when there's 4 feet of snow and black clouds blanketing the night sky in this northern hemisphere canadian town but it's bold and it's refreshing and it reminds me of eating out in madrid. Check out your local LCBO for what's in stock. 

Here is an informative article written by sommelier John Szabo about the history of Beaujolais Nouveau with tasting notes on 8 wines. 

World Wide Wine Blogging Wednesday

Welcome to the first edition of World Wide Wine Blogging Wednesday hosted by Lenn of Lenn Devours. The theme was a new world Merlot (excluding the United States) that fell in on the retail radar under $15 US. In typical Edible Tulip blogging fashion, I am a day late. Sigh. I blame this entirely on matters of the heart. Gentle readers, my heart has exploded into a sea of airborne particles that are scattered across the river and floating. I saw a shooting star the other night. That's the only way I can describe my state: my "can't blog" "can't think" "can't put letters together to create words" state of being. But anyway, enough poetics, the good news is I've been drinking A LOT of wine. This bottle I pulled from my recycling bin this morning having come across the Lenn Devours site and remembering this wine blogging event and really wanting to participate but not really wanting to drive to town to drink wine in the afternoon after 4 hours of sleep just to write a good review. I had a small faith that a bottle of new world merlot WOULD be in my recycling bin. Just a thought. And it was indeed.

The LCBO (liquor control board of Ontario) has been promoting new world red wines since last spring so unlike some of you there is no difficulty walking into an average LCBO store and being greeted by at least a dozen new world reds (and many of them falling under the $15 US limit for this event). When buying new world red wines I tend to go for zinfandels and shiraz or cab sauv/shiraz varietals from places like New Zealand and Australia because for the value they are good easy drinking wines. But this bottle from Chile is also a very cheap very presentable alternative. It retails for $8.95 Cdn (roughly $7 US). I bought it in my tiny village LCBO which means it is standard LCBO fare and should be available at any wine store in Ontario. It has a typical merlot embodiment – slightly fruity in a blackberry way, a little herbaceous and taut, slightly meaty and earthy, a classic mid weight Chilean red that is fairly dry and slightly tannic.

This wine won the bronze medal in the category “Red Table Wines under $13” at the 2004 Toronto Wine and Cheese Show.

It is an easy drinking wine although for summer I’d prefer a lighter Beaujolais style of wine. The meatiness of this red deserves something slightly spicy like a baked ham or a flavourful Indian stew.