Beaujolais Nouveau: The Gateway Wine

It is almost "Beaujolais Nouveau" Thursday!

On the third Thursday of each November, France releases its Beaujolais Nouveau. The grapes for this wine are picked each year, fermented for a few weeks and then bottled. It is the first wine produced of each vintage.

The official birthday of Beaujolais Nouveau is November 13, 1951, when French laws first permitted this wine to be produced. But it was not until around 1970 that it became a national event throughout France. In 2005, they adopted the catch phrase "It's Beaujolais Nouveau time."

The Beaujolais Nouveau is made from the Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc varietal, commonly known just as Gamay. It is a simple, fruity wine that is often served slightly chilled. You should also drink it within a year as it is not created to last too long. Drink it as fresh as you can.

On Thursday, this wine will be shipped all over the world. It is more expensive the first few weeks of release because of the added shipping costs. Though most brands sell for around $10 a bottle. Many local wine stores will have special tastings of the Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday, Friday and the weekend.

You can also check out some fun facts about Beaujolais Nouveau.

There is a dark side to the Beaujolais Nouveau as well. Some consider it merely a marketing ploy. Others disdain this simple style of wine. Over the next few days, you will likely read a number of anti-Beaujolais Nouveau articles. And though there may be some truth in their criticisms, there is also good in Beaujolais Nouveau.

Beaujolais Nouveau can be a Gateway wine, the doorway to further wine drinking and appreciation. It is a fruity and easy-drinking wine, one that will appeal to many people who might not otherwise enjoy wine. And once such people find one wine they like, it gets easier then to find them another wine. And then another.

The key to getting people to drink wine is to first find a wine they like. The Beaujolais Nouveau can be that wine. A non-wine drinker is unlikely to start out on a fine Bordeaux or a tannic Cabernet. They often want to start with something fruity or a bit sweet.

So, those of us who are wine lovers should embrace Beaujolais Nouveau and use it to hook our friends and family on wine. I will buy some and share it over the holidays. Will you?

Holiday Wine Tasting-Thursday

This Thursday, November 15, from 4:30-7:30pm, there will be a Holiday Wine Tasting at Corporate Wines in Woburn. This is a free event and there will be around 50 wines available for tasting, including the following:

Wine List:
Whitehaven (New Zealand)
Henry's Estate (Oregon)
Hitching Post (California), featured in "Sideways" the movie.
McMurray Ranch (California)
Genesis by Hogue
Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells & Chateau Ste Michelle Cold Creek
Kiona Vineyard Seven Hills
Walla Walla Babich UnOaked (New Zealand)
Alexandor Valley (California)
Verget (France)
Spann Vineyard (California)
Michel Forrost Pouilly Fuisse (France)
Wildberry Estates (Australia)
Domaine Ferrand
Guigal
Chat La nerthe
Saint Cosme
Montes Malbec & Montes Alpha Cabernet & Montes Chardonnay
Toso Brut & Toso Chardonnay
Norton Reserve Malbec
Santa Ema Cabernet Reserve & Santa Ema Sauvignaun Blanc
Trimbach Gewurztraminer & Trimbach Pinot Gris
Becker Pinot Blanc
Dr. Fischer Reisling
Kilikanoon Pretty Sally
Marquis Philips Buttonwood
Midnight Cellars
Seven Hills

There will also be a discount of 25% off of six bottles of wine (mix & match).

I will be leading a group of 20+ members of the North Shore Winers to this event. Hope to see you there!

Corporate Wines
16A Cummings Park
Woburn , MA
Phone: 781-933-WINE

Stoneham Sun: L'Andana

My new column of "A Passionate Foodie" can be found in the November 14 issue of the Stoneham Sun newspaper. This is a weekly column that concentrates on reviews of local restaurants though it may also touch on a few other food and wine topics.

The new column will be published tomorrow and is currently available online. The new column is a review of L'Andana, an impressive new Italian grill restaurant in Burlington. It has only been open about four weeks but I predict it is going to become a big hit.

You can read additional details about my experiences at L'Andana here, here and here.

If you have any questions or comments about my column, feel free to add them here. Next week, my column will be another restaurant review.

Dine with passion!

Spanish Vacation: The End

Day Fourteen...

We had a final buffet breakfast this morning and then our driver arrived to take us to the airport. Then the long flight home.

What an amazing trip it had been. Spain was a wonderful country and we certainly have so many great memories. I am sure I gained at least ten pounds from all of the delicious food. I brought a case of wine back home with me and it made it safely.

Since our return, we have repeated the story of our vacation to all of our friends and family. Everyone wanted to know about Spain and I think some of them might even consider it for a future destination. I am sure we will repeat our story again to other friends and family members we have not seen yet.

I cannot rave enough about Spain. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering a vacation in Europe, especially if you love food and wine. And if you want to go in style, then consider Cellar Tours. They are certainly an exceptional tour company and do their best to ensure your vacation is as good as possible.

Now, what to do? Well of course it is time to start planning my next vacation, for next year. Probably to Oregon, to Portland and the Willamette wine region. And then in 2009, maybe Portugal, again with Cellar Tours.

So where are you going on your next vacation?

Angela's Coal Fired Pizza

I mentioned yesterday, that Angela's Coal Fired Pizza is now open in Saugus on Rt.1. I stopped by there today for lunch.

It is a medium-sized restaurant with a bar located in the center. It has a modern decor with dark wood colors. I liked the look of the restaurant. I should note that they do not currently have the calzone or two of the sandwiches available yet.

I ordered a small pizza with prosicutto ($15). When it arrived, it was actually a good-sized pizza and two people might be able to split it. The prosciutto was mainly on 2/3 of the pizza, leaving very little on the other third. The prosciutto itself was very tasty. The pizza itself is thin crusted, with a bit of burn on the outer crust, something I am sure is a mark of the coal oven. There are pieces of plum tomatoes atop the pizza, though not really the chunky tomatoes you get at Pizzeria Uno. I liked the pizza though it did not overwhelm me. With its size, the price is not unreasonable, though it is not a bargain either.

I did order a glass of their Sangria and it actually was fairly good. It was not overly sweet and had a good wine flavor to it. I would order it again.

Service was very good and I had no complaints in that area.

Angela's Coal Fired Pizza
880 Broadway (Rt.1)
Saugus, MA
Phone: 781-941-COAL