Eager to Please, Elbows and Knees

When last I hung out with my friend Bill, he pontificated – briefly… he is a man of few words after all – on the pleasures of Beaujolais at the table and on the purity of its expression of vine and terroir. He must be rubbing off on me, as I’ve found myself turning to Beaujolais more and more often of late.


Beaujolais “Vieilles Vignes – Cuvée Traditionnelle,” Domaine du Vissoux (Pierre-Marie Chermette) 2007
$16. 11.5% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA.
It actually doesn’t take prodding at all for me to turn to any of Beaujolais from Pierre-Marie Chermette’s Domaine du Vissoux. I’ve been drinking them for well over ten years now and they consistently deliver. That said, my early memories of his “Cuvée Traditionnelle” are of a round, boldly fruit-driven wine. Perhaps it’s just my memory working tricks on me but assuming/hoping that’s not the case, I’ve noticed a transition toward a lighter, crisper style in the last few vintages.

That’s hardly a bad thing, as this is eminently quaffable yet still has an underlying element of complexity. It’s a complexity that does not demand attention; rather, it’s there, lurking in the background, ready to be embraced though just as happy to be ignored in favor of the wine’s simpler side. Bright, wild raspberry fruit dominates on the nose and palate, driven by crisp acidity and a dash of minerality. The wine is totally transparent, the only evidence of any wine making stamp is shown via what’s not there rather than what is. Chermette ferments using native yeasts, so there are none of the ubiquitous aromas of the cultured yeast strains used in the production of so much Gamay Beaujolais. And there’s no suggestion whatsoever of attempts toward concentration or extraction. Just pure, direct goodness, perfect for a lunch of country ham, crusty bread and a little coarse, whole-grain mustard.

Moulin-à-Vent “Cuvée Vieilles Vignes,” Domaine Diochon (Thomas Patenotre) 2007
$22. 13% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, CA.
Bill’s discourse on Beujolais was inspired, I think, by a very fine bottle of the 2006 Moulin-à-Vent from Domaine Diochon that we shared that night. While enjoying the ’06, he warned me that he’d had some less rewarding experiences with the next vintage. Given that I already had a bottle of the ’07 at home, I took that as an assignment.

Bill was right. On the nose, this showed a strange brew of aromas ranging from washed rind cheese to stewed, muddled black fruit to charcoal, all wrapped around stemmy scents of green plant extract. The palate wasn’t any more pleasurable, with coarse texture on one side fighting with a slight spritziness on the other. I’d be happy to hear from others with experience with this vintage, as this may have been a bad bottle from a bad batch. But unless someone can convince me of that, I won’t be going back for more.

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French, Italian and Cajun

Another fairly impromptu get-together provided all the inspiration necessary for today’s post. Carryout from Cajun Kate’s, a few interesting things to taste and a little conversation with friends…. Definitely not a bad way to spend an evening.

Touraine Sauvignon “Le Petiot,” Domaine Ricard (Vincent Ricard) 2007
$15. 12.5% alcohol. Composite cork. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
After reading about the 2008 version of “Le Petiot” at Jim’s Loire a little while back, I figured it was high time to sit down with a bottle of the 2007, which is the current release on American shores. There’s no mistaking this for anything other than a vibrantly pure expression of Sauvignon, from its first aromatic blast of pink grapefruit and spring flowers right down to the tongue twisting, cleansing acidity on the wine’s finish. In between, there’s fine interplay between ripe, peachy fruit, lively citrus overtones and a wee undercurrent of light minerality. A perfect kick-starter of an aperitif, and not too shabby with Cajun Kate’s fried oyster po’ boy.

Venezia Giulia IGT Bianco “Vino Degli Orti,” Terčič (Matijaž Terčič) 2006
$32. 14% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
A 50/50 blend of Tocai Friulano and Malvasia Istriana vinified and aged in tank. Regrettably this was a flawed bottle, robbed of its fruit by either a very low level of TCA (I’m pretty sensitive to cork taint and didn’t pick it up) or some combination of heat/oxygen ingress. Too bad, as the first bottle I’d tasted a couple of weeks earlier (sorry, no note) was quite good.


Collio Sauvignon, Terčič (Matijaž Terčič) 2007
$32. 14% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
That’s more like it… two bad bottles from the same producer and same shipment would have been a bad sign. This was not only very good but also stood in stark, provocative contrast to the style of Ricard’s Touraine Sauvignon. Terčič’s Sauvignon was just as energetic on the palate but much richer and denser in texture, and darker in its minerality. It’s also far less aromatically potent, expressing itself more through feel, structure and depth than high toned fruit and flowers. Like “Vino Degli Orti,” this is done in tank; if I didn’t know that, though, I’d have guessed neutral wood. There’s plenty of stuffing here for richer food pairings.


Moulin-à-Vent “Cuvée Vieilles Vignes,” Domaine Diochon 2006
$19. 13% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, CA.
This might just be the ideal choice to pour for someone who still needs to be convinced that Beaujolais can be serious – and seriously good – wine. It’s got great fruit but also that classic granitic, brooding sensation that seems more common in Moulin-à-Vent than in any of the other Beaujolais Crus. This has great feel and fine balance and delivers waves of crunchy, dark fruit. The nose leads with black raspberries and chalk, follows with white pepper and a sense of black minerals, and ends with scents of ginger and molasses. Lively acid and grip bring it all home. Not too shabby with smoked brisket gumbo, either.


Arbois Pupillin Poulsard, Emmanuel Houillon (Pierre Overnoy) 2007
$32. 12.5% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Louis/Dressner, New York, NY.
Dinner was over at this point but we all felt like tasting something else. The choice was driven, I expect, as much by anticipated pleasure as it was by a wish for redemption after a rather awkward showing from another Houillon wine a couple of weeks earlier. There was no awkwardness this time around.

Though typical in shade for Arbois Poulard (aka, Ploussard), this might startle many with its pale iridescence in the glass, reflecting hues of green olive and orange peel when held to the light. It’s almost spritzy in its liveliness on the palate, like a winey rendition of raspberry lime seltzer. The aromas were just intoxicating. Scents of pine needle, rose petal potpourri, watermelon, lime and eucalyptus jumped out of the glass, one after the other, seemingly alternating between associations of the mountains and the shore. On the palate, it’s all about freshness of fruit and completely unmuddled flavors. Full of refreshing acidity, devoid of tannic interference and laced with rock-sucking sensations, this was just a joy to drink.

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