2015 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais

I picked up this week's wine at my local Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's often has some great wines at affordable prices. I was craving something light-medium bodied and fruit-forward, so I settled on this 2015 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais. Duboeuf is sometimes known in the wine-world as the "King of Beaujolais," and this wine was a testament to that. This particular Beaujolais is made from Gamay grapes grown in the Golden Stones Country in the Beaujolais region. This area is in Southern Beaujolais. It's a hilly area that gets it's name from the color of the limestone that was historically used in building in the area.

2015 was a particularly good year for Beaujolais. It was a very warm summer, so the grapes ripened faster and the harvest happened earlier than normal. The heat allowed the grapes to get incredibly plump and juicy, this makes for better wine. Additionally, the grapes had a longer maceration period, because they were harvested earlier, and the continued heat aided the maceration. The warm summer also made the wine more complex, it will age better than other Beaujolais vintages. I'd love to purchase another bottle of this wine and store in for another three years or so and see how it changes.

This wine tasted and smelled like a pretty typical Beaujolais. When I sniffed it I got strong red fruit notes: red cherry, strawberry and raspberry. There was a hint of vanilla on the end note. Tasting the wine matched up very well to the scents. It's a very fruit forward wine, with those red fruit flavors coming in right away, followed by the vanilla and the smallest notes of cinnamon and pink peppercorn. It's a very lush and juicy wine, well-balanced with soft tannins.

I drank this wine with chicken parmesan, and they paired well together. It would also be a good wine with salmon in a teriyaki or other asian sauce, or with a BBQ chicken pizza. The fruit forward nature goes well with tangier sauces.