By Rick Riozza
Well—there’s not much of it around town. Where have all the Beaujolais Nouveau parties gone?—long time passing. Although it was just last year that the Viceroy Hotel carried on their tradition of a horse drawn carriage hauling in a large wooden cask of the young purple wine straight from Burgundy France via LAX from Charles DeGaulle; and, thereafter everyone joined in for endless $5 glasses of Gamay. Now that’s how to do it.
But sadly, that stunning black stallion marching in the rain carting the crimson ribbon of flowing fresh wine has gone missing from the premises along with Chef Martineau and his Cassoulet Toulousian. Ahhhh—let’s blame him! J’accuse!! Actually—crying, I just called him over at the Montage in Beverly Hills; he wishes us all well and thanks us for the memories.
I remember we all had a rousing time over at the Miramonte Hotel celebrating the first Beaujolais out-of-the-gate, featuring Sinatra-style crooner Steve DiTullio and his Italian entourage. They didn’t sing one French tune but no one cared, Stevie and his friends were hot, eager, and singing up a storm and we all smiled along with purple teeth. (By the way—DiTullio’s singing over at the Westin Mission Hills on December 12th, celebrating Old Blue Eye’s 100th birthday.)
And, last year or so—as you would expect, Clementine Market Place & Café in Palm Desert did it up big time and very French with their pouring of three different stellar “Cru” Beaujolais—an abbreviation of “Grand Cru” which is the good stuff! Monsieur et Madame Christophe and his lovely wife Jennifer presented an abundance of wine and ambiance along with Chef Grabe preparing a panoply of delectable delights like we were living in Lyon.
Although there is no official word from Clementine’s for this year’ s November 19th Beaujolais Nouveau Day, I’m certain there will be plenty to toast to and dine upon at this fun and always enchanting French Market & Café venue 72990 El Paseo Ste 3 Palm Desert, CA 92260 – 760.834.8814
“It’s Beaujolais Nouveau time” is the re-vamped slogan for ad campaigns and marketing material when on the third Thursday of November , the entire planet frolics French and celebrates the season’s wine harvest, the bottling—and simultaneously, the uncorking of the youngest wine on earth!
The 2015 Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration is one of the wine world’s most fun times (well maybe not so in the Coachella Valley) where there will be nothing serious going on except serious partying with fruity six week old red wine from the Gamay grape that has been whooshed in from France in just days flat!
Indeed, there’s an adventurous movie to be made where the backdrop story covers how a million cases of new wine race around the world in motorcycles, balloons, trucks, helicopters, jets, elephants, runners and rickshaws to get it to its final destination on time.
Beaujolais Nouveau owes its easy drinkability to a winemaking process known as whole-berry fermentation. This technique preserves the fresh, fruity quality of the grapes without extracting bitter tannins from the grape skins.
I know—I know, because it is such a young wine, it’s got a bad reputation of being insipid and rough—and it can be in bad vintages. Good or bad, the wine labels from each vintage, especially from Georges DeBoeuf and Maison Drouhin, are colorful and entertaining, which keeps up the fun aspect of the party day. But, from a stellar vintage in the Burgundy region (yes—Gamay Beaujolais is from the area) the Nouveau can be quite good, and as Christophe at Clementine has shown, the ten “Crus” from Beaujolais can be sublime aromatically and deliciously sturdy, as with the 2000, 2003, 2009, 2012—wines that are still drinking great.
When I cried to my pal Ralph Iannuzzi, owner of the Wine Vault of the Desert, about no one doing a Beaujolais party this year, he said, “Cause no one’s drinking the stuff.” Again he’s voicing his clientele’s general malaise about the Nouveau—not the Cru.
So we are all asking ourselves (well maybe not here in Coachella), how’s the 2015 vintage doing so far? Famed Burgundy Vintner Frédéric Drouhin said of the general vintage, “This year the (wine) colors were revealed very quickly; they are now red, deep, of high intensity. Aromas are very fruity (strawberry and jam-like) perfume-y and concentrated.” That’s sounding good! However, he adds, “At this stage (Oct. 2015), it is difficult to compare 2015 to another vintage, but at present the wines look promising and are evolving nicely.”
Wow! In the viniculture biz, “difficult to compare” is a very interesting comparison; when there is none! (Background Music: the Twilight Zone theme…dee-dee—dee-dee, dee-dee—dee-dee~~Continue and fade out).
So yes—Beaujolais Nouveau is mostly marketing and party fun, and, good party fun—please! Lighten up people! Hey—I happen to be a big Cru Beaujolais fan and here’s my quick spiel:
Beaujolais’ sandy clay over granite soil while its Gamay grape romps this playground is magical in the wine that’s produced. And as the Lord is wont to do, from just one type of grape, He causes a range of variations on a theme to keep us all happy. This “Cru” thing I keep referring to, are 10 distinct wine areas within Beaujolais, each with an individual profile.
So whether your tastes look to elegant, floral & fruity—it’s Fleurie; aromatic, full of raspberries, cranberries, but light—Régnié; those who adore hearty wines—akin to tasty Burgundies, you’ll find the Moulin- à -Vent and the Morgon as the absolute ticket. And all of these wines make for the perfect Thanksgiving quaff.
Francophile or not, we all stand in support of our stricken brother and sisterhood in Paris and the world! Restons courageux!
