18 points for a Beaujolais Nouveau? Yes! The 2018 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau with 13% alcohol, costing about $12 to $13, is the best Nouveau I’ve had in over a decade.
It reminded me of the 1976, a super great year. I enjoyed the ’76’s with Dionysians Joe Ingemi and Phil Mazzoni who were Beaujolais experts. Garnet-purple in color, with cherry, raspberry, blackberry and even some cassis on the nose, the wine is balanced with a 3.61 pH and only 1.2 grames per liter of residual sugar.
Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be a fun wine. This one is. It comes from the 38 Villages AOC where it’s manually harvested from vines over 20 years old. Nouveau is released the third Thursday of November and drinks well through the winter.
The wine is better than normal Beaujolais Nouveau, but both show that the Grand Crus from 2018 will be wines to buy, cellar a bit, and enjoy like older Burgundies. Unlike many Beaujolais that are slightly chilled, this one shows best at room temperature. Try it.
Traditional carbonic maceration lasted nearly eight days in Stainless steel tanks. Have a Beaujolais Party. I did with Franck Dubeouf, Georges’s son. In Vino Veritas.
Leave a Reply