Beaujolais Nouveau, 2012

Beaujolais Nouveau release celebrated in the village of Beaujeu!

November 15th marked the release of the the new wine and you can read about it in this Centre Daily Times account. The fact finding mission was accomplished and the Spring itinerary for the Fete du Crus will be posted on the site soon!

Meow!

Psst!

The cat is out of the bag. The secret is out. At last Tuesday's Wine School with John Corr at the Allen Street Grill there was a leak--encouraged by Michael Desmond--that a spring tour is in the planning stages.  It is true.  The planning stage part is critical this time.  The 2011 trip was a big success and the participants were all very pleased.  Casting the net wider and touring with folks beyond family and close friends, the costs and activities will be determined up front and and posted on this blog for consideration.  So stay posted!  Details will be released this month--as well as teasers for a possible 2013 Nouveau tour.

Here's the flyer as a date saver.

Planning for the 2013 Beaujolais Trip

Banquet hall at the Fete des Crus--Sante!

is underway!  The dates are Saturday, April 27 to Saturday, May 4, with the main event--the Fete des Crus Wine Festival--occurring on Sunday, April 28. We will be staying at the beautiful Les Buis du Creux  in the village of Cogny, a short walk through boxwood lined paths to the Perroud family organic vineyard. Cooking classes at the new gite will feature local specialties like Beouf Bourgignon and Coq au Vin.

Stay tuned for more details.  I'll be posting regularly as I work out the schedule.  Au revoir!

 

Two France Trips Planned

Planning is underway for two very different trips to the Beaujolais region of France, 

one in November and one in April.

November 10-17, 2012 will coincide with the Beaujolais Nouveau release at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, November 15

Clink!

  

April 20-30, 2013 will feature the Fete des Crus which will take place in the village of Brouilly. We will need more than a week to surround all the festivities!

Beaujolais Nouveau, 1990

This is what the vineyards will look like in November, with all the grapes harvested except for some stragglers.  All the grapes are in the barrels, fulfilling the destiny of the region.

 This is the cellar of a friend of the Longefay family, where we did some barrel tastings of previous vintages....

 ...quite happily!

 Nathalie Longefay(at that time!) Fraisse and Jeanne Murphy at a cellar of a friend of the family near St. Lager, one of the villages in the Beaujolais region where they produce Brouilly and Cote de Brouilly.  

Some facts about the wine:  Brouilly

• Brouilly is the largest wine area in Beaujolais. It covers about 20% of the Beaujolais wine region.
• Brouilly and Cote de Brouilly are two different crus.
• Cotes de Brouilly grow in the slopes of the hill. Brouilly grow at the bottom.
• Brouilly wine is fruity and full of flavor. Wine makers can add other grapes than Gamay into the wine such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Aligoté and Melon, up to 15%.
• Cote de Brouilly is robust and elegant. The wine is more concentrated as the grapes get more sun than the ones at the bottom of the hill.
• Brouilly is better when drink young while Cote de Brouilly should mature 4 or 5 years before tasting.

Chateau de la Chaize is the largest producer o f Brouilly in the region.

 

 

 

 Nathalie took us to Chateau de la Chaize where her friend's son worked at the vineyard and we got the grand tour of the palatial estate. The cellar was enormous and the winemaker poured us the tasting surrounded by the barrels.

 and barrels and barrels!

Chateau de la Chaize doesn't make the Nouveau though, just the Crus.  To experience the Nouveau party we went to her cousin Louis Tete's winery where a party was in progress with live music, the typical charcuterie of the region, and cheeses.

Michel Fraisse and I point out the name of the winery outside the cellar door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did not call Michel "The Troublemaker" for nothing!

 

  

 

When the trucks left at midnight all the revelers went out into the street to cheer them as they roared out of town with a police escort. Thru the weekend the partying continued, in the cellar, in the bars and even on the street!

The Beaujolais Nouveau isn't the best wine of the Beaujolais region (no! the crus Beaujolais are that!) but it is a Cause Celebre and a great reason to have a party!

Beaujolais Nouveau Tour in November

Beaujolais nouveau wine makes you feel young when you drink it!

Wine enthusiasts all over the world turn their attention to the bucolic Beaujolais region in France every third Thursday in November for the release of the "Nouveau", the new wine of the current year's vintage. Release parties are held in caveaux all over the region, and it is the cause for much feasting and dancing when the trucks depart at midnight to rush the wine to waiting markets all over the world.  I was there for the Nouveau celebration twenty years ago and we went to a banquet for 100 celebrants in a huge wine cellar at a winery owned by one of the cousin's of my friend Nathalie Fraisse.  At the stroke of midnight everyone went outside to cheer on the trucks as they roared off with a police escort. Subsequent partying took place all over the region on the days following, with wine cellar open houses, parties and barrel tastings right on the roads.

Our November tour will take place from Saturday November 10 to Saturday, November 17.  We will meet in Lyon and then proceed to the village of Cogny about 45 minutes away, to install ourselves at Les Buis du Chardonnet for a week of living like French people, savoring every bite and sip. Cost for the tour, which will include lodging, meals, wine, cooking classes and admission to special events will be @ $1500 per person, not including airfare and hotel stay in Lyon, if that is necessary.

More details coming soon!

Spring 2012 Trip cancelled! November 10-17th for Beaujolais Nouveau!

Which direction is France anyway?

Too much, too soon, too hectic!  We both breathed a sigh of relief when we decided not to go forward with the Fete des Crus trip in April.  The timing is just too tight, with my final days at Penn State ticking by and classes ending on the day we had to leave to be there by April 29th.  Next year! so we are pulling back on that one, and focusing now on the fall trip which will take place November 10 to 17th. The Beaujolais Nouveau release is an international event, and all the wine eyes of the world will be turned to Beaujolais for an indication of the quality of the vintage.  It is a big fun party! More details to come soon--just wanted to get the word out about the dates so we can take our time and plan a fabulous tour.

Corr's Tours 2012 Update

Here is where we are going.

John and I have been figuring and figuring, and drinking wine, and figuring, and figure that the cost for this year's one week guided tour of the Beaujolais will run approximately $1500 per person for the week, not including airfare to France.  That runs about $900 from State College to Lyon on US Air, but folks coming from larger cities or willing to drive to major hubs may be able to find a better deal than that. The plan is to all meetin in Lyon on Saturday morning, April 28th and rent a small bus that will transport us to Cogny and Les Buis du Chardonnet where we will spend the week.  All the costs for the week are included--accommodations, food in house, food eaten in restaurants, wine, admissions to the Fete des Crus wine festival, and all transportation for the week.  If it sounds too good to be true, it is.  We are not in a 'for profit" mode on this venture yet.  This is the Beta test, after a very successful Alpha run last May. This message is going out to friends and friends of friends and we hope to take a group of 10 this spring.  In two short months! so if you are on board, let me know--I'll hold you a spot.  All systems are go.  J'ai hate de vous voir! (Can't wait to see you!!)

Corr's Tours 2012

How the village looks right now with a dusting of snow

Ghislaine, John and I are hard at work planning the next tour for the Fete des Crus celebration in Beaujolais this spring.  Here are the dates:

April 28 to May 5, 2012

A bright and beautiful Les Buis du Chardonnet

Grand scheme:  Arrive in Lyon on Friday, April 27th and stay overnight at the Hotel des Celestines not far from the old part of the city.  Leave at 11 the next day to drive north to Cogny, after stopping by a street market and visiting the Lumiere Museum (go to see Hugo! go to see The Artist!) in the afternoon.  Walking tour the tiny village of Oingt that evening and dinner at a restaurant in the village.  Home early to get rested up for our big Sunday in the village of Morgon where we will taste all the crus (best wines) of the region.

 Here it the link to the wine festival: http://www.fetedescrus-beaujolais.fr/venir/tarifs-resa

The organic grapevines at Les Buis du Chardonnet are enjoying the blanket of snow

More to come soon.  I'll be sending our the week's itinerary so you can see what will be going on each day.

Meanwhile,look at last year's photos and descriptions.  I can only make one promise--that it will be even better in person than the photos suggest.  C'est parti! (Here we go!)