Brouilly: the end

This is THE last! of the Beaujolais crus: Brouilly.

Before we drink just a wee reminder that the podcast is going strong. Get it on ye olde Apple Podcasts aka what podcasts on iTunes are now called. Or go on Stitcher or Youtube or just stream on the host site. Last week was some tasty aged Riesling so get into it!

Now. Let’s put Beaujolais to bed.

 I am into this producer. Pierre-Marie Chermette, to be specific. Or, well, ummmmm I was into their rosé as evidenced here. Then came this:

2014 Pierre-Marie Chermette Pierreux Brouilly

And I think I should be into this one. 
That is how it is here with this wine by Chermette. Love, love would watch/drink amillionandone times their stuff…but maybe not their Brouilly. I was just not on board. They were painstaking. The producers. Apparently they pruned and thinned to increase the ripeness. Yet to me this wine was still too green. Oof.

It needs time. Or maybe it was too old? Maybe the berries were fresher before? Everything in my soul said “this is appreciable wine” and yet I didn’t love. I’ll give you WSET stats and say IF you love a bright cab franc this may be your natural wine jam. Anyway WSET analysis:

Appearance: clear medium ruby with medium tears

Nose: clean, medium intensity. red berries, blueberries, greens. youthful.

Tongue: acid is medium plus, tannins medium minus, alcohol I’m guessing medium or minus like…12.5? Checking…13. Not close enough. I need blind tasting practice. Body is medium. Flavor intensity medium. Flavors? Raspberries, blueberries, green peppers, licorice or chervil. Finish? It goes on…for a medium amount of time. It is good quality. Balanced, lengthy enough, intense-ish, but not complex. It is good not exceptional while other examples of natural Brouilly I have had have been.

I am sorry but this is the end of the Beaujolais series. Unless I also cover Beaujois, Beaujolais-Villages and Beaujolais Nouveau. But for now I am Gamay-ed out. Well…we shall see. Because Gamay has a hold on my heart as does Pierre-Marie Chermette. Expect more from both!

Regnié and a Red Hat

The name of this wine inspired me to put on a red cap of my own.

Apologies to Mets, Cubs and Giants fans in particular, but I’m a Cardinals girl. Okay now that that’s out of the way–

On this Beaujolais journey we have swilled on down:

Morgon

Chiroubles

Fleurie

Moulin-A-Vent

Chénas

Juliénas
And!
Saint-Amour

Okey dokey yea now we are on to Regnié. I talked about it once before.

But this one oh yes.

2012 Bonnet Rouge Regnié

Holy hell no sulfur! Normally I worry about that ending up stanky in a bad way but this is a natural phenomen. 

Thank god or I would think it unseemly… that this is…okay there is no polite way to say but cloudy.

Okay so also it is not penultimate in complexity. But it is more interesting than wines I’ve tasted three times the 10-ish dollar expense of this one.

If you hate: licorice, anise, or tarragon ye best run.

I LOVE this wine and probably would pay three times the amount it was (which would still be medium in price) because it is friggin’ RIFE with licorice-y taste deeeelite..but more than that anise? It makes me think of springerles–cookies my family makes around Christmas.

Which are the magic.

THE magic. This is an alcoholic springerle in a glass.

With just a bit more than a hint of the pastille I get in the Morgon. 

The Morgon has about as much pastille as I got in Chiroubles. This is a tiny region and hell now I want to open all three crus and do an anise-off between them. And I might chase that with some absinthe. Just so I can compare to the hardcore but jeez just all the anise/licorice/pastille etc ness. Y’all.

How does this compare? Oddly the further south I get the fresher the flavor I get. A phenomenon you see in say, Napa Velley but I don’t know it the type of wine (i.e. natural or not) has something to do with it. Still learning.

Anywho this has the delightful Gamay classic flavor of ALL sorts of cherries. Violets. And then that licorice and anise. The licorice and anise overwhelm my tastebuds but I FUCKING LOVE THEM. If you don’t this will undoubtedly be not good to you.

But fuck yah if I would not believe this bottle was 25-30. Not just under ten.

Bargain royalty.

And go Redbirds!! We need to win some more games so I can toast them with this red hat wine. 

Chiroubles: some would call it gender fluid. i call it fluid.

ONWARDDDD!!!!!

We have tackled Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-a-Vent, and Fleurie! So let us keep on. To Chiroubles!!

Specifically:

2015 Laurent Gauthier Chiroubles Chatenay “Vielles Vignes”

I got this sucker for about 14 bucks from guess………duh Garagiste.

Oh golly apparently these “old vines” were planted on a steep pink granitic arena. HELLZ YEAH THIS WINE IS A BEEFY WINE AND YET FROM PINK SOIL!

Pink pussy power y’all. Pink granite grit. Feel it. Vinified in whole clusters in concrete vats.

This shit is hardcore essence of pink granitic Gamay and I am into it. It is a delightfully balanced wine, essence-wise. The acid is balanced with ripe blueberry and cherry fruitiness (which so may confuse with sweetness). The light tannins are balanced with…well they are still light but have strong handshake. Wicked oaky tannins would detract from what I ADORE that is hard to find in say…well I don’t know but. Soil is a lady y’all.

What I am saying is this wine has light flowers and I love it. Violets. This wine is violets and I want to french kiss it. As for the finish this wine doesn’t last long or change which is fine. I mean there are the vinos whose finish is so complex and crazy you can’t believe it and want to dwell on it forever but day to day I am a working lady. Sometime I want a quickie.

This wine is tough on the outside but then…those violets. Tasty.

In terms of comparison this wine, as compared to the other crus of Beaujolais is not as tough as most but fuller than Fleurie. Which is full but lacks manliness.

Chiroubles is gender fluid wine. It is true. I hear you giggling at that. Stop making fun of me. It is funny because it is true.

So actually, go ahead and laugh. I own my silliness. I’m macho like that.

Oh hiya big Beau

I’d not mind a big beau in my life.

He’d be brawny. Sinewy. Deep. Like he’d been thinking deep thoughts but then needed to go pummel a bear.

Wait, strike that.

 I’m not advocating hurting bears you guys. Just perpetuating stereotypes of manhood.

Oddly enough a wine whose maker’s name is Lilian et Sophie Bauchet seems to fit my needs.

Maybe I should stop dating men. At least the disappointing ones. And just drink:

2015 Californie 

A Vin de France

From Fleurie if I am to believe what I read though the bottle would not belie the cru. But a blend from my fave new place?

I wanna believe. In love.

And this wine.

No pedigree beyond being recommended by Marissa Fuck Yea! Ross 

ps I added the Fuck Yea! cause I dig her wine stylings. She just goes by Marissa Ross.

All of this is to say I would bang the hell out of this wine. It is challenging yet soothing. Perfect. For one night. I would not marry this wine but we would totally have a healthy recreational sex life.
Okay I’m getting carried away so I’m gonna give the tech stats:

Appearance: clear, ruby medium plus, medium tears

Nose: clean, medium intensity,  red goddamned fruit. All of it: cherries, currants, raspberries and on. A hit of spices and white pepper.

On the tongue: Dry, almost a hit of yeast–I think this guy is natural so that makes sense. Acid medium plus. Tannins medium minus but astringent.

A teensy bit stemmy for me in all honesty. But I love the underdog who you think you cannot love–not that I love this one but as I said I’d sleep with it like a lot.

More red berries on the tongue. With medium alcohol, medium body flavors with a wee bit of wet raw grass to mix with aforementioned berries. Delightful. 

It actually makes me want to eat that goat cheese coated with a raspberry and nutty coating my friends seem to periodically show up with? Maybe it’s a Trader Joe’s thing?

The finish is tart and more of the vines and you are kinda like I don’t think this guy is good for me but fuck he’s leading and I will follow until bedtime.

Cause I sleep alone.