Eve's Wine 101

One Bottle Post: Cru Beaujolais – du Moulin-a-Vent

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Been a long time since I’ve had a Gamay wine from Beaujolais, France. Not to be confused with Nouveau Beaujolais, its younger sister that is presented every November fresh from bottling, this particular Gamay had some aging (see the tech notes below). I knew it would be red fruit on the nose and palate – reminding me a little of a Pinot Noir – and I was interested to see how this one, from Moulin a Vent, turned out.

From the website Beaujolais.com we learn, among other things, “A natural cross between pinot noir and gouais blanc, the gamay noir à jus blanc variety makes it possible to produce wines with multifaceted fruitiness: from ‘cheerful fruitiness’ for Festive Beaujolais wines – and hence ‘Beaujolais Nouveau’ – to “complex fruitiness” for the Exceptional Beaujolais, and including “racy fruitiness” for the Expressive Beaujolais…”

The Tasting

The color was like a bright ripe cherry, inviting. On the nose I got quite of bit of red fruit, mostly strawberry and raspberry. There is also some white pepper, smoke, golden raisins and incense.

The taste brought all those ripe red berries right up front, some spiciness with a lively palate. This would be our first wine of the night, a refreshing starter, and one my Pinot loving friends would also appreciate.

From the Technical Sheets

General info: approximately 13% alcohol, 100% Gamay grapes, approximately 33,000 bottles, bottled 12/5/2019. On the vines we learn that “These terroirs less exposed to the winds, below the historical moulin-à-vent, on its east slope. The maturation is scarcely stopped and the fruit is much better preserved.” 40 year old vines. Harvested by hand, 3 weeks cold pre-fermentation. Aged at least 15 months in 100% stainless steel, no oak aging.

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.

Rusty Sly on Carbonic Fermentation

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During our last meeting of Grape of the Night (GOTN) in September 2012 the group tasted and learned about a wine called Gamay Beaujolais.  One of the points that I commented on was about a different fermentation process used in the Gamay region of France called carbonic fermentation.  This process creates wines that have fruity aromatics and are light in style compared to wines that have gone through the usual fermentation process; and involves fermentation of whole grape clusters including the stems.

A similar process is used in wines from the Republic of Georgia where the grapes, stems, etc are placed into amphoras and crushed.  The difference with carbonic fermentation is that the grapes are not crushed.  Allowing the stems to be included in the fermentation process creates a wine that is high in tannins and sometimes green bell pepper aromatics.

One grape that is not always crushed is pinot noir.  This allows for a more aromatic wine based on what is termed a partial carbonic maceration process.   Fermenting with the stems is traditional in Burgundy wines from France and has increased in 2008 and 2009 vintages.  Since this technique increases the tannin level, it is probably the reason that French Burgundy wines age well beyond their American counterparts.

The process of carbonic fermentation is very unique and involves placing the whole grape clusters with their stems carefully into a vat forming layers of grape clusters.  I am sure that everyone that has picked up a grape cluster at your local market can realize how much weight or force is being applied to the grapes on the bottom of the vat.  This causes some of the grapes at the bottom to be crushed just due to the weight.  Next, carbon dioxide is added into the vat to remove the oxygen.  This allows for fermentation to occur within the grape skin delaying the activity of the yeast.  This is the key difference from normal fermentation.  The fermentation occurs naturally within the grapes.  As the grape ferments within the skin, the internal pressure from carbon dioxide gas production along with the weight of the grapes piled into the vat causes the grapes to burst and release their juice.
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This kind of fermentation process creates ethanol as well as fantastic fruit aromatics.

This process is used extensively in the Beaujolais region where very fruity aromatics in light bodied wines are produced.
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  The stems do add high tannins however, the process used in the Beaujolais region are geared around quick turnaround wines.  This is very evident in Beaujolais Nouveau wines.

Cheers,
Rusty Sly

Rusty Sly on: Gamay Beaujolais

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Gamay Beaujolais

It has been a while since I have written a follow up to GOTN.  I have been slacking on what is expected of me so I will attempt to get back into your good graces.  The GOTN on 10 September 2012 was to showcase a wine that is not normally selected or drank.  The wine varietal was Gamay Beaujolais.  The Gamay noir grape is a clone of the pinot noir grape crossed with Gouais.  Gamay grapes were originally grown in Burgundy France where they were believed to have been introduced by the Romans.  The presence of the Gamay grape within the Burgundy region caused an uproar among the Burgundy purists.  Philippe the Good, banned Gamay Beaujolais from Burgundy because “The Dukes of Burgundy are known as the lords of the best wines in Christendom. We will maintain our reputation”.  Beaujolais grape growers then relocated to Beaujolais which is north west of Lyons.  This region grows only this varietal.  The soil is granite based but the terroir was well suited for this grape varietal and it thrived.

Rusty Sly, Toni Brady, photo credit- Larry McClements

Gamay Beaujolais of the past did not label their bottles as Gamay Beaujolais.  The rule of thumb was to place only the region that the bottle came from without adding Gamay.  This is now being changed slowly according to Inter Beaujolais general manager Jean Bourjade.  There is a move to feature Gamay on the labels of Beaujolais and Beaujolais Village wines.  The best villages in the region including the famous ‘Cru’ Beaujolais are as follows:
·         St-Amour
·         Julienas
·         Chenas
·         Moulin-a-Vent
·         Fleurie
·         Chiroubles
·         Morgon
·         Regnie
·         Brouilly and Cote de Brouilly

Gamay Beaujolais AOC requires that the alcohol content to be above 10-10.5% ABV.  To do this the vintner use a process called chaptalization or adding sugar to the grape must to increase the alcohol level content if required.  This has been controversial as Beaujolais winemakers are striving to make higher quality wines and increasing the alcohol affects the body and balance of the wine.  Many Gamay Beaujolais wines can have up to 13-13.5%.

A unique process used by Gamay Beaujolais wine makers to acquire lighter wine with fruity aromatics is a process called carbonic maceration.  This process involves placing whole grapes (uncrushed) into the fermenter and adding carbon dioxide to remove the oxygen.  As the carbon dioxide gas pressure builds due to fermentation within the grape plus the weight of the grapes on top, they burst. Wines produced using this technique are lighter and are have a fruitier aroma, compared to red wines made the usual way of crushing the grapes then fermenting.

Gamay Beaujolais wines are high in acidity and was noted in all of the examples brought by the group.  This wine would go great with creamy cheeses and meat that has a lot of fat due to this high acidity.

Beaujolais cru wines today are being produced more in the way of traditional red burgundy wines.  Trying to go back to their traditional roots, the grapes are fermented in open wooden vats and aged in oak barrels.  These new Beaujolais wines are deeper in color and more tannic.  The added tannins will allow one to cellar these wines which was impossible with the Beaujolais wines of the past.

The wines that were provided by the group and tasted are as follows:

·         2009 Domaine De Collette Cru Morgan
Aroma:  Cherry
Taste: Cherry, light, creamy with light acidity
·         2009 Moulin a Vent Cru Le Trois Roches Pierre-Marie Chermette
Aroma:  Mineral (granite)
Taste:  Red berry back ground, mineral and acidic
·         2010 Louis Jadot
Aroma:  No nose
Taste:  Light bright cherry, tart, light and high acidity
·         2009 Domaine Mont Chavy Cru Morgan
Aroma:  Light barnyard and black licorice
Taste:  Delicate, mineral finish and acidic
·         2009 Macon Rouge Cru Regnard
Aroma:  No nose
Taste:  Cherry, light vanilla and light acidity
·         2009 Saint-Lager Cru Brouilly Recolte Christean Vergier
Aroma:  Barnyard
Taste:  Earthy and acidic

Based on the groups comments it is evident that Gamay Beaujolais wines are notoriously acidic.  Structurally they are light (some more than others) and many reflect an old world profile.
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  Many that were in attendance were surprised at what some of these wines offered at such a low cost.  Many of these wines were well under except for one.
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  This was truly a great night and a tremendous learning experience about a wine that very few people will pick up or try.

I would again like to thank the Valencia Wine Company  and Guy Lelarge sponsoring our group with special thanks to Geno for always making sure that we had everything we needed to make our evening special.

Cheers,
Rusty Sly