Episode 5 – In The Shadow of Stardom, Beaujolais Nouveau, Carmenere
November 21, 2015 § Leave a comment
Episode 5 – Link to Podcast
Show Notes
Segment 1: Beaujolais Nouveau
The first wine of the vaunted 2015 vintage. Critics are saying that 2015 is the vintage of a century no matter if the wine is from BC, California, or Europe. This years Beaujolais Nouveau is a harbinger of the wines to follow.
Beaujolais is a region in France and is the southernmost area of the famous Burgundy Appellation. All the red wines from the region must be made of 100% Gamay Noir and all the grapes must be hand harvested.
Recommended Wine: Georges DuBoeuf Paper Label ~ $18.49
Segment 2: In the Shadow of Stardom
It’s really about basic economics of supply and demand. Those regions that are world famous only produce so many bottles but have huge demand. Regions like Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Napa Valley have no trouble in selling their wines at top dollar each and every year. However there are many more regions and wines around the world that exist in the shadows of stardom.
Recommended Regions for Value:
Italy – Umbria, Sicily, Marche, Puglia, d’Abruzzo
France – Languedoc, Provence
Other Europe – Portugal, Croatia, Hungary, Greece
California – Lodi, Paso Robles
Other World – South Africa, Chile, Argentina
Other BC – Similkameen, Kamloops
Specific Wines Mentioned – Periquita (Portugal), Painted World (South Africa), Masia F (Spain)
Segment 3 – Carmenere
Thought to have vanished from the world after phylloxera destroyed thousands of acres of vineyard in the Europe in the 1860’s, and one of the original 6 Bordeaux grapes, Carmenere was only recently rediscovered as being alive and well in Chile.
In the late’s 90’s Alvaro Espinoza noticed that certain vines in the blocks of Merlot were consistently ripening later each year. He had the DNA analyzed and it was found that the mystery vines were indeed Carmenere.
Recommended Wines – Falernia Carmenere ($17.99), Concha Y Toro Terrunyo Block 12 Carmenere ($34.99), Terra Andina Carmenere-Syrah ($9.99-$10.99)
Segment 4 – Best Buy of the Week
Leave a Reply