LCBO SALE PICK OF THE WEEK: APR. 28
GEORGES DEBOEUF BEAUJOLAIS BROUILLY (BURGUNDY, FRANCE)
Sale $15.95, Regular $17.95
Discount (until May. 22): $2.00
LCBO # 213934 | 750 mL bottle
Tastes like: Tons of black berry fruit with precise acidity and a clean, long finish.
Pairs with: Steak tartare, ribeye, roast chicken and meaty pizza.
Good for: Daily rituals, full moons and the return of long, fragrant evenings.
Alcohol: 12.7%
Drink: Now.
Why we're drinking this
The Gamay grape is the underdog of the wine world. Wine critics don’t wax on all breathless about the glories of Gamay the same way they do about Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. Which is insane, because Gamay is way more reliable than those grapes, and much more friendly. Possibly because it has less of a reputation to live up to, and therefore has less to lose. Georges Duboeuf is a producer who’s made its name on Gamay, aka the red grape of the Beaujolais region of France. Brouilly is the sub-region where this particular wine comes from. That’s about all you need to know.
Tasting note
Hard core winos, sommeliers and chefs know Gamay as a killer food wine. Generally, it’s fruity with bright acidity and has lots of blue and red berry flavours. It’s fairly soft in texture, light in tannin and just plain easy to drink. It’s not usually a challenging wine — that is, it’s pretty much “what you see is what you get.” Thing is, the French are the Gamay masters, and they don’t usually fall in line with expectations. This Gamay is not the usual easygoing wine, in that it has a slightly harder edge, a heck of a lot more black fruit (blackberry, black currant, black cherry) and a drier tannin structure than most run-of-the-mill Gamay. It has really nice concentration and a rather full body (again, compared to most Gamays). It’s still a lovely sipper, but it’ll do wonderfully with meat dishes from steak tartare to a grilled ribeye. That’s the acidity and structure talking. Light alcohol (less than 13%) means you can drink this all night without fatigue. Oh, and the really pretty bottle shape makes a great candle holder — if you’re into that kind of thing.
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