Drouhin Beaujolais-Villages 1982

[Saina Nieminen]

Thanks to my friend Asko for this rare treat:

Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais-Villages 1982
A bit of ullage, but nothing scary for this age; filthy cork, but came out cleanly; the colour seemed excellent.

To put it mildly, the first sniff was not promising: sewage. But just a short while open and the bottle stink disappeared.

It is old, seemed much like a Cantillon Kriek with its elegantly oxidized and lifted aromas of cherry. And with our bookshop group being all beer enthusiasts, this bottle went down very well - probably more so than it would have with more wine-oriented friends.

Where the scent seemed old in a pleasant way (i.e. lovely aromas, but not in any way recognizable as Gamay), the palate was sweetly fruity (still!), pleasantly acidic, low in tannin and gravelly - very Gamay.

For us Kriek-geeks and us lovers of old aromatics, this was an extremely pleasant drop. Thank you Asko.

The Beauty and the Beast (sorry for this unruly employee being in the way):

 

[Unknown]

Way cool.

 

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

+1

 

[Rahsaan]

Very nice. And even better that it was 'very Gamay'.

 

[Unknown]

I've been enjoying their 07 brouilly quite a bit.

 

[Claude Kolm]

originally posted by Rahsaan:
And even better that it was 'very Gamay'.

I don't know, I should have hoped that the wine had pinott, even from a Beaujolais-Villages.

Drouhin does a nice job with their Beaujolais line, IMO.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Is that you, Otto?

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by Claude Kolm: I don't know, I should have hoped that the wine had pinott, even from a Beaujolais-Villages.

Why? Is that somehow supposed to be a qualitative improvement?

 

[scottreiner]

originally posted by Claude Kolm:

originally posted by Rahsaan:
And even better that it was 'very Gamay'.

I don't know, I should have hoped that the wine had pinott,

methamphetamines?!?! (emoticon here)

 

[Claude Kolm]

originally posted by Rahsaan:

originally posted by Claude Kolm: I don't know, I should have hoped that the wine had pinott, even from a Beaujolais-Villages.

Why? Is that somehow supposed to be a qualitative improvement?

My experience (and its much more limited in Beaujolais than in, e.g., Cte d'Or, Germany, Rhne, Piedmont, etc.) is that the producers are very proud of wines that pinotte.

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by Claude Kolm: My experience is (and its much more limited in Beaujolais than in, e.g., Cte d'Or, Germany, Rhne, Piedmont, etc.) is that the producers are very proud of wines that pinotte.

Ok, I can see that.

Just trying to get someone to stand up for Gamay Integrity!

 

[Saina Nieminen]

Claude, I think this was so aged that it just smelled old, no varietal distinctions could be made. It might have pinottd a decade or two ago for all I know. As to the palate, some fruit could be found but I can't say whether it more approaches Gamay or Pinot. More important was that it just smelled generically geriatric, yet the taste did not seem so aged.

Jeff, sadly yes. Friends with cameras can result in an unfortunate human being inserted into an otherwise nice pic.

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by Otto Nieminen: ...an unfortunate human being...

Those drinking 1982 Drouhin Beaujolais should not consider themselves unfortunate!