We recently opened a bottle of the 2005 Joseph Drouhin
Beaujolais-Villages with dinner:

nose: classic tart red fruits
palate: good concentration, bright red fruits, plenty of acid, slight
bitterness on the finish

All in all, just what you hope to see from a Beaujolais-Villages from a
good year. Drouhin probably gets my nod for the best mass-market B-V in
the US, and this bottle just reinforces that conclusion.

Last night, at our annual Fête du Cassoulet (with appropritely frigid
weather to accompany it), we opened:

NV Veuve Clicquot Champagne
n: moderate toast and some green apple fruit
p: somewhat muted, toast, fruit in the background
reaction: not my favorite Champagne house, but a decent sparkler

NV Roederer Estate Sparkling Wine
n: vibrant fruit, yeasty
p: fruity without being sweet, good balance, quite powerful
r: overall, a more fun wine than the Veuve Clicquot albeit one that's
not likely to be mistaken for Champagne. Still, at <$20/bottle it's a
good QPR choice for sparkling wine!

[These were served as aperitifs with only a bowl of eda mame to
accompany them -- light was the watchword for this stage of the meal]

With the cassoulet, accompanied by a tossed green salad with balsamic
vinaigrette:

2005 Brun l'Ancien Vielles Vignes Beaujolais
n: reticent, dark fruit, minerals
p: tightly wound, deep, dark fruit, quite powerful
r: This is a wine that clearly needed to be carafed prior to serving,
but didn't get it. There's a lot there, and my impression is that in
about 5 years or so, this'll be drinking nicely. Right now, open it up
beforehand and give it some air. Not a bad match with the cassoulet (a
Hugh Johnson recommendation) but nothing magical.

1998 Val D'Orbieu La Cuvée Mythique
n: briery, tar, blueberries and meat
p: medium-full, smooth tannins, earthy and meaty with plenty of fruit
and a great finish
r: This was another H. Johnson pairing recommendation, but probably a
younger Languedoc wine may have been better suited. Still, there was
nothing wrong with this match, either, although there was no synergism
with the food.

For a digestif:
1995 Warre's LBV Port
n: raisins, alcohol and Port-like (DUH!)
p: rich, smooth, concentrated fruit, good acidity
r: One of the better LBVs I've had, and from a year that wasn't
declared. The label says that this wine gets 4 years of bottle aging,
but to me the difference was in the quality of the fruit. Perhaps it
gets the grapes that would've gone into their vintage Port in a declared
year? Just a guess....

Fun night with a great group of people. One of the great aspects of
making cassoulet from MFK Fisher's Time/Life recipe (with a few tweaks
here and there) is that, even after serving 7 people, we've got plenty
of leftovers to try with some other red wines.

Mark Lipton

On Feb 12, 1:15�am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> We recently opened a bottle of the 2005 Joseph Drouhin
> Beaujolais-Villages with dinner:
>
> nose: classic tart red fruits
> palate: good concentration, bright red fruits, plenty of acid, slight
> bitterness on the finish
>
> All in all, just what you hope to see from a Beaujolais-Villages from a
> good year. *Drouhin probably gets my nod for the best mass-market B-V in
> the US, and this bottle just reinforces that conclusion.
>
> Last night, at our annual Fête du Cassoulet (with appropritely frigid
> weather to accompany it), we opened:
>
> NV Veuve Clicquot Champagne
> n: moderate toast and some green apple fruit
> p: somewhat muted, toast, fruit in the background
> reaction: not my favorite Champagne house, but a decent sparkler
>
> NV Roederer Estate Sparkling Wine
> n: vibrant fruit, yeasty
> p: fruity without being sweet, good balance, quite powerful
> r: overall, a more fun wine than the Veuve Clicquot albeit one that's
> not likely to be mistaken for Champagne. *Still, at <$20/bottle it's a
> good QPR choice for sparkling wine!
>
> [These were served as aperitifs with only a bowl of eda mame to
> accompany them -- light was the watchword for this stage of the meal]
>
> With the cassoulet, accompanied by a tossed green salad with balsamic
> vinaigrette:
>
> 2005 Brun l'Ancien Vielles Vignes Beaujolais
> n: reticent, dark fruit, minerals
> p: tightly wound, deep, dark fruit, quite powerful
> r: This is a wine that clearly needed to be carafed prior to serving,
> but didn't get it. *There's a lot there, and my impression is that in
> about 5 years or so, this'll be drinking nicely. *Right now, open it up
> beforehand and give it some air. *Not a bad match with the cassoulet (a
> Hugh Johnson recommendation) but nothing magical.
>
> 1998 Val D'Orbieu La Cuvée Mythique
> n: briery, tar, blueberries and meat
> p: medium-full, smooth tannins, earthy and meaty with plenty of fruit
> and a great finish
> r: This was another H. Johnson pairing recommendation, but probably a
> younger Languedoc wine may have been better suited. *Still, there was
> nothing wrong with this match, either, although there was no synergism
> with the food.
>
> For a digestif:
> 1995 Warre's LBV Port
> n: raisins, alcohol and Port-like (DUH!)
> p: rich, smooth, concentrated fruit, good acidity
> r: One of the better LBVs I've had, and from a year that wasn't
> declared. *The label says that this wine gets 4 years of bottle aging,
> but to me the difference was in the quality of the fruit. *Perhaps it
> gets the grapes that would've gone into their vintage Port in a declared
> year? *Just a guess....
>
> Fun night with a great group of people. *One of the great aspects of
> making cassoulet from MFK Fisher's Time/Life recipe (with a few tweaks
> here and there) is that, even after serving 7 people, we've got plenty
> of leftovers to try with some other red wines.
>
> Mark Lipton

Thanks for notes. A little surprised at idea of HJ recommending
Beaujolais and cassoulet. I usually think a bit bigger/tannic: Cahors,
Madiran, Rhone, or your Languedoc idea.

Re the Brun aging- is this natural cork? I have a few, somehow was
thinking artificial.

DaleW wrote:

> Thanks for notes. A little surprised at idea of HJ recommending
> Beaujolais and cassoulet. I usually think a bit bigger/tannic: Cahors,
> Madiran, Rhone, or your Languedoc idea.

Yup. To me, a young, tannic wine makes the most sense to offset the
fats in the cassoulet. HJ also recommends a Rioja, but doesn't say
whether he means a modern type Crianza (my supposition) or traditional
Gran Reserva. Since my Rioja holdings are slim and lean heavily toward
the traditional, I didn't go for that option.
>
> Re the Brun aging- is this natural cork? I have a few, somehow was
> thinking artificial.
>

Nope. Fake cork. I understand your reticence about aging wine in fake
cork, but several people, Jim Cowan among them, have reported aging
these L'Anciens under fake cork with great success, so I think it might
not be a total loss. Still, to be safe, give it two years instead of
five. I've still got an '04 Pepiere in the cellar, too! ;-)

Mark Lipton