Luke Pours & Pairs: “Occasion Wines” at Whole Foods Venice

The Hipster Enologists — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 07:07:48 +0000

Luke put together a food and wine pairing wrapped around the theme of “Occasion Wines.” Many of us have wines that are traditional for certain occasions, so Luke kept those moments in mind when creating this flight.

Champagne

First, Champagne seemed apt for toasting the start of a new year and to kick off the tasting event. NV Laurent Perrier Brut L-P stepped up to the plate. Crisp green pear and citrus zest on the nose with just a touch of toast made this wine a nice fit for whitefish caviar on crème fraiche atop steamed then chilled fingerling potatoes.

Beaujolais Nouveau

For wine lovers around the world, a humorous annual occasion is the third Thursday of every November. On that day the new vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau pulls a Santa Claus and shows up in every town around the world. While most Nouveaus are rarely taken seriously, Kermit Lynch has a 2010 that should be respected. The wine is light and fruity, but grips with good acidity and body. This wine was paired regionally with Persillé du Beaujolais bleu cheese and Luke’s Port, red onion & heirloom Arkansas Black applesauce.

Amarone

Coppa shared the plate with the bleu cheese to serve as the evening’s third pairing for the celebrated Italian wine, Amarone. The cured ham with the Arkansas Black applesauce made a complementary sweet and salty combo for the 2006 Cesari Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. Traditionally, a blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara varietals, grapes for Amarone spend several months drying on racks after harvest. This concentrates the remaining juices and increases the skin contact of each grape lending to softer tannins and richness in color. This depth of character is present in the 2006 Cesari, making it a suitable addition to formalities like meeting the parents.

Mead

Another famed and oft overlooked wine made its way into the tasting but seemed more fitting for an occasion where one might have slain a dragon. NV Rabbit’s Foot Dry Mead was paired with crème fraiche and blackberries topped with drops of kirsch and sprinkled with brown sugar. The kirsch added just enough bitterness to make the sherry-like mead seem sweeter, while the crème fraiche accentuated its nuttier flavor components.

Late Harvest Dessert Wine

Ending a great meal or occasion often means breaking out a good bottle of dessert wine. To complete this flight, Luke paired the 2006 Rosenhof Welschriesling Beerenauslese with a bite of gorgonzola dulce and fresh whole honeycomb. Second only to Trockenbeerenauslese, this qualification of wine for Germany and Austria is amongst the most sought after wines of each good harvest. Affected by noble rot, the fruit used in Beerenauslese is hand-harvested, grape-by-grape creating a lengthy and laborious harvest. A wine this hard to make usually costs a mint, but not the Rosenhof at around $20.

2009 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau

The Hipster Enologists — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:08:29 +0000

WHO: Georges “2.5 Million Cases a Year” Duboeuf
WHAT: 100% Gamay
WHEN: 2009
WHERE: Appellation Beaujolais Contrôlée
HOW: Clusters are hand-harvested, then the grapes are fermented whole in a process known as carbonic maceration for only four days.

WHY: The Jersey Shore is to television as Beaujolais Nouveau is to wine. Highly publicized and incredibly marketed, Beaujolais Nouveau might be the only wine that has such a well-known release date and subsequent following. Often coinciding with Thanksgiving, Beaujolais Nouveau is released annually on the third Thursday of November after all the blood, sweat & wine has been barreled. Le Beaujolais Est Arrivé is the phrase seen in bistros across the region, signifying the end of a successful harvest, and allons-y nous faisons la fête!

Beaujolais Nouveau is a young wine, meant to be drank casually and in season. This wine should be drank within a year of being made, if not immediately. If you encounter any Beaujolais Nouveau more than 2 years old, it’s best left to die alone in the back of the wine shop. In our humble hipster opinion, you probably wouldn’t bring this wine to a dinner party – unless it’s that kind of party. This is a “buy 6 bottles, drink to get drunk” celebratory sort of wine. It’s entirely possible that you may pass out in a gutter in Paris, bottle in hand, and wake up in an alley in Belgium (much to Ben’s chagrin).

The 2009 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau starts out with a delicate autumnal nose of dried leaves and a crisp early winter breeze. This year’s vintage tastes of grapefruit, overripe strawberries, and lemon rind. The mouth feel is bigger than your average Beaujolais Nouveau and actually seems to have some structure. It’s no Château, but it has a good foundation. It is a very juicy wine, and the refreshing feeling you get from drinking it is well worth the 8 bucks you spent.

The Wrap: Georges Duboeuf’s 2009 incarnation of Beaujolais Nouveau is somewhat beyond its years. It does have a greater complexity than past vintages we’ve had, so it’s worth giving a shot. Considering most of these wines are around a 3rd grade reading level, we give this vintage a gold star. Now that you’ve read this review you know what you’re getting yourself into; so grab a bottle, lower your expectations and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Wine Website: http://www.duboeuf.com/

Hipster Enology » Beaujolais

Luke Pours & Pairs: “Occasion Wines” at Whole Foods Venice

2009 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau