Index – Culture – Yesterday he was exterminated, today he is adored: ol, ol, Beaujolais!



[ad_1]

Perhaps there is also some destiny in the way a wine will become world famous. The history of the gamay grapes is particularly adventurous because it has become important since VI. Guided by a crazy idea, King Charles of France dressed up as a prehistoric man with four friends. They danced in chains at their feet until one of their masquerades caught fire and some members of the small team were burned to death. Although the king in his twenties survived the performance, the ruler, famous for his hitherto strong mind and stable nervous system, soon began the battles for the throne, for which his brother, the Prince of Orleans and his uncle, II . Philippines “Bold”, prince of Burgundy, also signed up.

Felipe also took some time in the struggle to taste the wine made from gamay grapes, which are popular with farmers and rich in fruit. It was a memorable sip.

As a result, in 1395, he ordered the immediate eradication of the grape near the town of Beaune, previously cultivated with a long-man, because “it is very bad and destroys the vegetation”, that is, the local variety pinot noir.

The Calvary of the Gamay grape continued more than sixty years later: III. “Well” Prince Philip declared that “The princes of Burgundy are famous for making the best wines in the Christian world. We will preserve its reputation. “

Beaujolais is the largest wine region in Burgundy

Beaujolais is only 11-14 km wide, but stretches for 55 km along the Saone River to Lyon. Here, even in Roman times, serious vineyards crawled up hills with varied soils, and then in the Middle Ages, Benedictine monks kept viticulture and, of course, winemaking alive. After five hundred years of ownership, the land was handed over by the owner of Beaujeu to the Duke of Burgundy in the 15th century, from whom it was finally uprooted by the Great French Revolution and handed over to winegrowers.

As a result, gamay has been almost entirely driven out of Burgundy, and only a few hectares of capital have survived on the southern slopes of the Beaujolais wine region. Fortunately.

Because of this, merchants and wine lovers in nearly 120 countries around the world now shout like this every third Thursday in November:

“Beaujolais Est Arrivé!”, Azaz to “Beaujolais megérkezett!”

The Beaujolais plantations now produce 98 percent of the gamay grapes, typically from goat farming dating back to Roman times, from which 12 wines of different appellations are made in 96 villages in the region.

  • The most common bottles come from Beaujolais AOC or Beaujolais-Villages AOC.
  • But the best nectar from the oldest areas has the Cru Beaujolais classification.

The wines made here are fuller, darker in color and deeper, unlike Beaujolais Nouveau, which has a worldwide run.

Today, Nouveau is made in one third of the Beaujolais wine region. Gamay grapes are normally harvested by hand in late August, early September to protect the grapes from cracking. The whole bunches are placed in steel or concrete vats, where the must is formed and fermented. The carbon dioxide produced in the process displaces oxygen, so additional fermentation begins within the intact grapes in the upper two-thirds.

Gentle, intermittent pressing is followed by rapid clarification, cold treatment, and bottling, resulting in a reducing, fruity (typically banana-scented) raspberry-cherry wine with low tannins and a short shelf life.

Although all remain for spring (the best can be re-labeled according to local rules, leaving the nouveau label), most bottles are normally sold out in November, mainly in Lyon and the wine region, where more than 100 festivals celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau. The largest of them is in the town of Les Sarmentelles in Beaujeu, where the new wine will be paired with light dishes, cold cuts from Lyon, for almost a week.

Serious competition for quality

The history of Beaujolais Nouveau dates back to the 19th century. It started in the 16th century and we wouldn’t know anything about it if the railroad were not invented. Since wine made from fine-skinned grapes grown in the wine region could be kept for a short period of time, it could only be enjoyed by those who live along the transportable rivers (Saône and Rhone). In the bistros of Lyon, in November, a series of inscriptions appeared on black boards that the new wine had arrived: Le Beaujolais Est Arrivé! Farmers, as in Hungary in recent decades, wanted to be the first to appear with their wines, competing with each other, so the speed competition began to be at the expense of quality. According to a decree to be concluded, published in 1941, no new wine could be marketed that year before November 15.

The first step on the road to world fame was taken by Georges Duboeuf, a Lyon wine merchant, who also sent a couple of bottles to Paris with the inscription “The new wine has arrived”, which captivated the wine-loving public first in the French capital and then in Switzerland and other large European cities. The situation has changed since 1985, with the earliest date for the placing on the market of Beaujolais Nouveau on the third Thursday of November of each year, so that before midnight only the bottles and advertising posters of that year can be found in the warehouses of the wine merchants.

Today, this new French wine is celebrated in nearly 120 countries, spreading nearly 30 million bottles around the world, transported to rally races to destination cities (so many compartments in famous racers’ cars also traveled to Hungary), and traveled to America and Asia in the womb.

Unfortunately, the festival torches will not explode this year, so it only remains to pay tribute to the tradition in our home and open a cold bottle (11 ° C is the ideal temperature for serving) and then drink that the next time we exclaim: Beaujolais has arrived. , the virus is gone!

Almost a dozen Beaujolais Nouveau appeared on this year’s national offer, the tasting of which was complemented by a tasting of national wines made with carbon dioxide maceration.

So here are our 5 favorites from Beaujolais:

  1. Pardon & Fils Beaujolais New 2020. Elegant violet color, aroma of banana that explodes in the glass. In the mouth, fresh acids, red fruits, among which cherries and raspberries stand out. Contained alcoholism, medium flavor. borkorzo.hu
  2. Pierre-Marie Chermette Beaujolais Les Griottes 2020. Typical violet color of the classic Beaujolais, elegant banana, plum aroma, residual carbonic acid barely perceptible in the sip, followed by a delicate acidity and soft tannins. Overwhelming, cherry, fresh wine. bortarsasag.hu
  3. Robert Perraud Beaujolais 2020. Wine with a more closed aroma and smoother flavor, with a smooth texture, of medium length, with a slight astringency at the close, with layers of raspberries, dried cherries and plums. bortarsasag.hu
  4. Jean-Baptiste Duperray Beaujolais New 2020. Beaujolais a little deeper, decent banana that slowly opens in its aroma. Instead of a lively acidity in the sip, it is a contained fruit with a long-lasting tannic dryness. bortarsasag.hu
  5. Ruppert Bolond Kalapos 2020. Beaujolais Nouveau is a Portuguese maceration made with carbon dioxide maceration. Violet color, bright primary aroma, still almost fermented, fine but lively sip with a pleasant low alcohol content. bortarsasag.hu



[ad_2]