Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages – A Strawberry-Banana Jam-a-rama!

100% Gamay from Beaujolais, France.

SRP of $10 and available for as low as $8. Sample received courtesy CRT/tanaka for review purposes.

From the bottle:

“There are 38 villages entitled to the name Beaujolais-Villages. This wine is tender, wonderfully fruity with the aroma of fresh grapes and when served slightly chilled will complement most lighter foods.

12.5% Alcohol”

Today’s wine is the first of several Beaujolais we will be covering here on the site. Beaujolais, as you may know, is made from the Gamay grape. Gamay is a cross between Pinot Noir and a white grape called Gouais. In some ways it could be considered the poor man’s Pinot Noir as a generally less expensive, fruitier, and highly drinkable wine; however we also found that it can also stand on its own quite nicely. In addition to being full of fruit and easy to drink it is also extremely food friendly and might even be at its best slightly chilled.

Beaujolais is one of the most vine dense wine regions in the world. Within this very large region there are several appellations. Beaujolais-Villages, like today’s wine, is a mid-tier designation that covers a number of small villages in the northern part of the region. In addition to having better soil conditions for growing grapes, the area also has limits as to the maximum yield of grapes from each acre. These limits are about 15% lower than the general Beaujolais designation, which should also increase the quality of the wine. (Beaujolais Cru is the highest level designation and covers just 10 villages in the prime growing region near the Beaujolais mountains, and has an even lower allowable yield.)

The 2011 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages begins with aromas of lots of sweet berry fruit (blueberry, raspberry and blackberry). So much so, in fact, that the bouquet reminded me a bit of Sweet Tarts candy. Tasting the wine revealed more juicy sweet berry fruit (mostly strawberry this time) plus a good dose of banana. The tannins are very soft contributing to a nice smooth, silky texture on this light-bodied wine. This wine is very easy to drink and it gets even easier as you go. It ends dry with a medium-short finish. A great pairing for a burger or other everyday food. A really nice, fun, everyday wine!

Buy this wine online from our featured sponsor Marketview Liquor or see a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.