Beaujolais Nouveau Winemaker Dinner ~ Domaine de la Madone 酒食篇

Event Details

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BEAUJOLAIS

Beaujolais area is located in the southern part of France ’s Burgundy region. It is different from most of Burgundy because of its focus on the GAMAY grape for its red wines, instead of PINOT NOIR.

Gamay gives fragrant wines that are full of raspberry and cherry fruit, and is very light in tannins.

Most of the wines from Beaujolais are red, with tiny amounts of ROSE and White (only 1 per cent of the wine is white, made from Chardonnay).

Beaujolais Nouveau is a special category of 7 to 9 week-old wine that’s released annually on the third Thursday of November.  This “new” wine, sometimes called Beaujolais Primeur, is meant to be drunk very young,

Nouveau and Primeur can be only of Beaujolais or Beaujolais Villages [39 villages] quality.

Ten Beaujolais Crus – producing the highest quality wines of particular distinction and identifiable character, each with its own individual appellation.

From north to south:  Saint-Amour, Julienas, Chenas, Moulin a Vent, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Morgon, Regnie, Cote de Brouilly and Brouilly.

 

Domaine de la Madone

Domaine de la Madone, is a 28-hectare estate, producing 160,000 bottles per year, in southern Beaujolais at Le Perréon, with a grape-growing ancestry dating back to the 16^th century.

Winemaking began when Marie Odette, the last of the Perréon dynasty (also the village’s name) and her husband, Jean Marie Bererd, the son and grand son of vintners also from Le Perréon, decided to make and sell their own wine from the estate’s original 12 hectares.

Today, their sons, the three-brother team of Bruno, Olivier, and Fredéric Bererd, who farm, make, and market wine from the family’s vineyards which have now grown to some 28 hectares of vines (all within a 30 km radius from the winery) divided into 90 small parcels with differing soils and exposures spreading over 2 communes:  Le Perréon and Vaux en Beaujolais (also known as Clochemerle). 

Not your standard-issue Beaujolais

Not your standard-issue Beaujolais , the domaine does not use the traditional technique of macération carbonique on their Gamay grapes.  In traditional Beaujolais , fermentation, using whole grape clusters, takes place within the grape, thus reducing exposure to the skin, resulting in wines consistently lower in tannins and preponderantly fruity. 

Serious Burgundian techniques

Instead, Domaine de la Madone’s techniques resemble more those of Burgundy wines:  (1) strenuous manual efforts to ensure grapes are picked at ideal ripeness (some 2-3 weeks later), (2) rigorous selection to reject anything other than the ideal, and (3) full de-stemming to eliminate harsh tannins.

Bruno Bererd says, “[we seek to make] bigger wines than the traditional Beaujolais ”... to prove to many people that we can make more concentrated wines than Beaujolais-Villages is known for”.  By treating the Gamay grape in the same way as Pinot Noir, the result of the domaine’s efforts are bigger, richer, more substantial wines that taste somewhat like Pinot Noir, but with an uncommon power and intensity.

Huge efforts mixing ancestral and modern techniques are made to improve wine-making to make “serious wines”:   high trellising and planting of grass to reduce vineyard vigour, longer temperature controlled fermentation, pneumatic press, juice concentration equipment, even oak barrack aging of the wines, etc.

Robert Parker describes the Madone style  as “… about as hedonistic and compelling an example of Beaujolais as readers are likely to find”.

Wines of the night :

Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2008 (Gamay) (Beaujolais, Burgundy, FRANCE) (Retail:  $228.00)

Dark ruby colour. A young wine distinguished by a real structure and huge fruit flavours.  Nose of red and black berries aromas, a lot of complexity. Round and rich palate, very soft tannins, a pleasant final with many fruit and floral flavors.

Serve between 16 and 18 °C as a drink before dinner or with delicatessen food and cheese.

Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Villages Rosé 2008 (Gamay) ( Beaujolais , Burgundy , FRANCE ) (Retail:  $148.00)

Light pink colour, fine aromas of red fruit and white flowers, crispy palate, pleasant finish with many floral flavours.

Serve between 12 and 14 °C  as a drink before dinner or to accompany salads and grilled fish.

Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Villages Blanc 2005(Chardonnay) (Beaujolais, Burgundy, FRANCE) (Retail:  $178.00)

Gold colour.  A mature wine with a lot of apricot and pear aromas, some honey and hazelnut flavour give some complexity. Rich, round palate.

Serve between 12 and 14 °C  as a drink before dinner or to accompany dishes with creamy dressing or foie gras.

Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Villages Cuvée Fûts de Chêne’ 2005 (Gamay) (Beaujolais, Burgundy, FRANCE) (Retail:  $198.00)

Beautiful dark ruby colour.  Very deep nose structure with a lot of complexity, minerality, black berries, ripe cherries, plums, a bit of toastiness and spicy flavours.  Very rich palate with a huge quantity of silky tannins, lots of red fruits, plums, with a hint of spice and vanilla tones on the finish.

Serve between 16 and 18°C  with roast beef, lamb and cheese.

Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Villages Cuvée Jean Baptiste 2005 (Gamay) (Beaujolais, Burgundy, FRANCE) (Retail:  $258.00):

Dark, dense, ruby colour.  Named after the vintners’ grandfather, this is an extremely complex wine made from low-yielding (18hl/ha) vines 50 years and older, aged in oak (half new) and bottled unfiltered.  A complex, full-bodied wine with deep black and red cherries, black berries, plums, and vanilla accented by floral peony aromas, herbs, spices, and dark notes of tar. Very rich concentrated palate with silky tannins, and a lot of dark fruit and spice on the extremely long, perfectly integrated finish.  Structured and serious.

Serve between 16 and 18 °C with rack of lamb and even a hefty steak.

 

Chinese Cuisine :

 

mw 21-11-2008