{"id":41,"date":"2008-11-16T13:52:40","date_gmt":"2008-11-16T13:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=41"},"modified":"2008-11-16T16:04:42","modified_gmt":"2008-11-16T16:04:42","slug":"beaujolais-grand-cru-wines-are-great-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=41","title":{"rendered":"Beaujolais Grand Cru Wines Are Great Values"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beaujolais\"As we approach Thursday, November 20, 2008,\u00c2\u00a0and the release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau<\/strong>, I would\u00c2\u00a0like to share with you\u00c2\u00a0some of my favorite\u00c2\u00a0wines of this region.\u00c2\u00a0 I should tell you I am not\u00c2\u00a0a fan of the early release Nouveau.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0However, I am always looking for a great excuse to have a party, so I thought I would share with you the secret of Beaujolais Grand Cru<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 What’s the secret?\u00c2\u00a0 The secret is the wines from Beaujolais’ 10 Grand Cru regions offer some of the best value-priced wines in the world.\u00c2\u00a0 I am sharing this secret with you so that you can grab some of these gems before Thursday and have a party in style.<\/p>\n

I was first introduced to Beaujolais Grand Cru wines on a trip to London.\u00c2\u00a0 A colleague of mine was a big fan of the wines from Brouilly<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 We shared\u00c2\u00a0a bottle of wine\u00c2\u00a0over dinner and I was hooked.\u00c2\u00a0 (Thanks, Rob)\u00c2\u00a0 I was impressed with the quality-to-price ratio.\u00c2\u00a0 I was also equally impressed with the level of refinement in the wines.\u00c2\u00a0 Prior to trying that first bottle, I had steered away from Beajolais, having only previously experienced Nouveau & Villages level wines from the region.\u00c2\u00a0 I used to think and say that I did not like the Gamay grape<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 I could not have been more wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 The problem was, I was not properly educated on the wines of the region.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t\u00c2\u00a0 know the secret.\u00c2\u00a0 There is magic in the Beaujolais Grand Cru wines<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 You will need to spend a little more money to reach this magical level, but the reward is several more times larger for the small increase in cost.<\/p>\n

\"BeaujolaisOver the last couple of days, I have tried several Grand Cru and I want to share with you the results of my findings.\u00c2\u00a0 Many of the recommended options come from the Exceptional 2005 vintage<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 We also recommend a few from the 2006 vintage as well.\u00c2\u00a0 But before we start, in case you are not familiar with the 10 Grand Cru villages in Burgundy, France, they are Chiroubles, Fleurie, Saint-Amour, Brouilly, C\u00c3\u00b4te de Brouilly, Juli\u00e9nas, R\u00e9gni\u00e9, Ch\u00e9nas, Morgon, & Moulin-\u00c3\u00a0-Vent.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 (See the map to the right.)\u00c2\u00a0 I find that most of the wines I prefer come from the Morgon Village<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 The regions tend to have terroir driven characteristics.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0According to the\u00c2\u00a0official Beaujolais website<\/strong><\/a>, Fleurie<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0offers a silky and elegant style.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Brouilly<\/strong> evokes perfumes of red berries and plums with occasional mineral notes.\u00c2\u00a0 Morgon<\/strong>, my favorite Cru, offers a more full-bodied wine that will age well.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, there is Moulin-\u00c3\u00a0-Vent<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 This\u00c2\u00a0Cru offers full-bodied\u00c2\u00a0wines that are complex and can be considered for cellaring.<\/p>\n

\"GeorgesI would like to share with you my favorite Grand Cru wines<\/strong> from the 2005 & 2006 vintages.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 My favorite value-priced wine\u00c2\u00a0is the Georges Duboeuf 2005 “Morgon Flower Label”<\/a><\/strong> for $<\/strong>13\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>This “red” wine smells like classic Gamay<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Its flavor profile is classic raspberry.\u00c2\u00a0 You should serve this wine slightly chilled with burgers and ribs.\u00c2\u00a0 If you can’t find the 2005, try the 2006 Georges Duboeuf “Morgon – Flower Label”<\/a><\/strong> for $12<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 It might even be a little bit better.<\/p>\n

\"LouisMy overall favorite wine is the extremely elegant Louis Jadot 2005 “Château des Lumi\u00c3\u00a8res Cote du Py Morgon”<\/a><\/strong> $34<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a special wine and it may convince you (if you weren’t already) that great wines can come from this region.\u00c2\u00a0 It is a little more money than most wines from the region, but it is worth every penny.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"LouisIf $34 is a little over your budget, then you can\u00c2\u00a0drop down a bit in price\u00c2\u00a0and give the Louis Jadot 2005 “Château des Lumi\u00c3\u00a8res Morgon”<\/a><\/strong> a try for $18.\u00c2\u00a0 This wine is also pretty refined.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It’s medium-bodied, smooth, soft, and\u00c2\u00a0exhibits\u00c2\u00a0dusty cherry flavors.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a great deal for $18.\u00c2\u00a0 From the Fleurie Village you might want to try the Georges Duboeuf 2005 Fleurie Domaine des Quatre Vents<\/a><\/strong> for $16<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 We had this wine\u00c2\u00a0with Thanksgiving dinner last year.\u00c2\u00a0 It was well-balanced, had nice flavors, and was a very good complement to the food.\u00c2\u00a0 If you are lucky, you still might find a bottle on the shelves.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PotelFor the 2006 vintage we will return to Morgon.\u00c2\u00a0 I recommend trying the Potel Aviron 2006 “Morgon C\u00c3\u00b4te du Puy”<\/a><\/strong> for $23.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 This wine is medium-bodied, smooth, and easy to drink.\u00c2\u00a0 It displays pleasant mild raspberry and cherry flavors with notes of minerals and earth.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Another Very Good option to consider is the Georges Duboeuf 2006 “Château des Capitans”<\/a><\/strong> from Juli\u00e9nas<\/strong> for $15<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This wine is medium-bodied, really smooth, not overly complex,\u00c2\u00a0but easy to drink. The flavors are mild black cherry with slight hints of cherry cola on the mid palate.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s another great value from Duboeuf and the region.<\/p>\n

\"JadotFinally, if you are on a low budget and just want to dip your tow in the water, I recommend the Louis Jadot 2007 “Beaujolais Villages”<\/a><\/strong> for $10<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 It is a fun wine and very inexpensive.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It is\u00c2\u00a0light-bodied, lively, and shows plenty of acidity.\u00c2\u00a0 It has cherry flavors with a touch of spice.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This wine would liven up a burger or pair nicely with spaghetti and meatballs.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0This is a fun and fruity entry level Beaujolais that would be a nice place to start\u00c2\u00a0if you are beginning to explore this region and its wines.\u00c2\u00a0 If you would like to start your exploration this week, I suggest you print off our complete list of recommended wines from Beaujolais<\/a><\/strong> and visit a fine wine shop near you.\u00c2\u00a0 Enjoy the wines and discover this terrific wine region.\u00c2\u00a0 Cheers – Ken<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we approach Thursday, November 20, 2008,\u00c2\u00a0and the release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau, I would\u00c2\u00a0like to share with you\u00c2\u00a0some of my favorite\u00c2\u00a0wines of this region.\u00c2\u00a0 I should tell you I am not\u00c2\u00a0a fan of the early release Nouveau.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0However, I am always looking for a great excuse to have a party, so I thought I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,85,86,55,79,78,87,82,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beaujolais-grand-cru","category-beaujolais-nouveau","category-burgundy","category-food","category-food-pairings","category-france","category-gamay","category-thanksgiving","category-wine-recommendations"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}