2009 Domaine Pignard Beaujolais, France

Color – Ruby red

Nose – Strawberry, cherry, floral notes, honey

Taste – This is another 10 dollar bottle of Beaujolais that Total Wine now carries. I didn’t see this a couple of months ago, but on a recent trip this was something new and I just had to see how it compares to the other Gamay wines I have sampled. It looks the same in the glass, somewhat thin, but upon swirling it isn’t watery and clings to the glass nicely. It smells of light red berries, cherries, flowers and what I can only describe as honey or sugar cane (that sweet scent that smells unprocessed and fresh). The attack is very similar to the Georges Duboeuf Flower Label Beaujolais-Villages that I have fallen in love with; layered tastes of strawberry, sour cherry, grass, salt and flowers. The mid-palate is all soft textures; tannins that effortlessly slip over the tongue, smooth astringency and alcohol that just barely bites. This is a light bodied wine with an even, medium length finish that carries more complexity in flavors; showing sour (but not puckering) cherry, cranberry, lavender and just a touch of black pepper. In my opinion this is a wine to drink chilled and with a light cheese or just by itself. It is perfect slightly chilled and will refresh you on a warm summer day.

Overall, this one is another winner as far as I’m concerned. It’s a good-to-great QPR with flavor and complexity that keep your palate happy. I paired it with a pork roast and it fared well, but mostly sipped glasses of it all by itself. This is a red wine for summer drinking for those of us that don’t like to switch to white wines. You can’t go wrong here, I’d say get this wine on your next visit to the wine store.

2009 Domaine Du Riaz Cote-De-Brouilly, France

Color – Very dark purple

Nose – Strawberry, blueberry, flowers, leaves, bubblegum?

Taste – Again I’ve come back to sample another Beaujolais Cru, this one a Cote de Brouilly that sells for 15 dollars at Total Wine. I didn’t rely on the advice of a member of their staff but read through their offerings and randomly chose this wine. All of Total Wine’s Beaujolais Cru’s are between 13 and 20 dollars, and of those most are rated 90 points by one of the “Wine Journals”. This particular wine is rated 90 or 91 from one such magazine. First off the wine is definitely good. It has wonderful depth of flavor from the beginnings of the first sip. I can taste strawberry, grass, dirt, lavender, dandelion, sage and salt. These flavors simply edge into a mid-palate of perfect alcohol tingle mixed with some sour berry flavors and intense astringency. The finish is medium-to-long and made up mainly of leftover sour berries, salt, floral undertones, and of all things grape. I hesitate to call this wine complex, the flavors are diverse, but the wine itself doesn’t feel complex. It is medium bodied and the aftertaste is pleasantly cherry and grape-ish. But the wine seems a little watery, without any real weight. The astringency is just a little over the top, though the alcohol and sour berries are perfect. I began this wine liking it, but by the end of the bottle this particular bottle of Gamay grapes had soured on me.

Overall, this is an OK QPR, certainly a good wine for the price. Are there better examples of this wine? You bet, and quite a few are much cheaper. I’d take a bottle of Georges Du Beouf Beaujolais-Villages or Morgon Flower Label over this wine and both of those are cheaper. This wine has too much going on and not enough connecting all the dots. The flavors taste great and are the only saving grace for this wine, but it’s not enough for me to buy it again. I’d say pass on this one.