Weekend Roundup

Two interesting wines from this past weekend were a Beaujolais and a Cahors.  I never drink Beaujolais because I’m simply not a fan of Gamay based wines, but this was a Beaujolais I’d be happy to drink again. The Cahors was nothing short of awesome - but if you’ve been reading my blog over the past year, you already know that I’m a huge fan of wines from South West France.  Still, this Cahors exceeded my expectations.

The Beaujolais was the 2009 Domaine la Prebende.  I bought the bottle a couple of months ago but last week at Kevin Zraly’s course I had two Beaujolais wines and began to wonder whether I wanted to open mine at all - I just don’t like Gamay.  So when I opened my own Beaujolais, I was pleased right away by the lovely delicate aromas and my confidence in the bottle returned.  It’s a fairly bright red color with a clear rim and low viscosity, with characteristics of bright red fruit, cherry, berry, a hint of red plum, fresh herb and soft spice, a bit of a floral note, white mineral, and bright acidity but smooth feel, very clean, and low tannin as expected.  It’s an easy drinking wine with a respectable finish, very food friendly and versatile.  I’m glad I’ve finally found a Beaujolais that’s right for my palate.

2009 Domaine la Prebende Beaujolais

Last night I challenged myself to a cassoulet.  Ever since I first saw one of the Food Network several years ago, and after having one at a restaurant about three years ago, I’ve been curious to try it at home.  After discovering my affinity for wines from South West France and deciding a cassoulet would be perfect with one of my bottles from South West France, I made a duck and pork sausage cassoulet last night.  The wine I selected was the 2002 Oriel Falerne Cahors.  It’s 100% Malbec (or as the locals of the region would call it, Cot), aged for 21 months in new French oak barrels.  The wine is very dark - it’s a dark red and the rim is beginning to show a bit of brick coloring, but the wine becomes almost black, and has relatively high viscosity.  The characteristics include macerated raspberry, dark fruit and blueberry, blackcurrant, a bit of plum, bold baking spices, licorice, a bit of dark chocolate, coffee, leather, some cool herb, earth, and truffle mushroom, with a nice balance of fruit/acidity/tannin, the tannins are smooth and velvety and the wine is aging nicely, and the finish is long and reminiscent of the fruit and spice.  It was a perfect pairing with the cassoulet, as expected.  I was really pleased with this wine.

2002 Oriel Falerne Cahors

Cassoulet