Purple hue with aromas of cocoa, sweet strawberry
Palate--Lively presentation on the palate, with expressive Gamay flavors, a nice acidic line, delightful, strawberry fruit, finishes quickly.
This is one of the better I have had so raise a glass!
Beaujolais explained:
Gamay is THE grape of Beaujolais and there are several levels of Beaujolais by which to judge the price and quality of what you can expect.
Beaujolais--The first tier of blended Gamay grapes from anywhere in Beaujolais but nonetheless generally quite a decent quaff with a variety of cheeses and food or all by itself as this one is a really nice example. Generally about $10 and a delicious easy quaff.
Beaujolais Villages--The next step up in quality and price. To use this designation on the label all the grapes must come from mmore select parcels of land. The price point tends not to be all that significant but a couple bucks generally.
Beaujolais Cru of which there are 10. These are: Saint-Amour, Fleurie, Moulin-á-Vent, Juliénas, Chiroublés, Chénas, Juliénas, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié
All the grapes must be from these express regions and they express different qualities of their terroir. The price are a bit higher ranging from the upper teens to up to $30 or so.
Finally-- Beaujolais Nouveau among which TODAY is the annual, release of Nouveau (or "new" Beaujolais) which is done to great fan-fare in France as this lite, uncomplicated gentle quaff of Gamay is only 6 weeks old from harvest to bottle and always released world-wide on the third Thursday in November. I would have reviewed one here but living in Maine we don't see much in the way of such wine. I will endeavor to review one when I find one. In the meantime, Gamay is just a delightful grape so raise a glass!