New Pairing to Try:
Cru Beaujolais + Grilled Salmon

2006 Château de La Chaize Brouilly ($15)

Earthy aromas and lightly savory raspberry fruit mark this simple but enjoyable wine from Brouilly, a French village that is one of the 10 Beaujolais crus.

2006 Georges Duboeuf Morgon Jean Descombes ($15)

A perennial value from Beaujolais, this luxuriously cherry-scented red is one of several wines from small estates that are bottled and marketed by Beaujolais magnate Georges Duboeuf.

2005 Louis Jadot Château des Jacques Moulin-à-Vent ($17)

Anyone who thinks top cru Beaujolais can’t stand up to Burgundy should try this wine from Jadot’s estate in Moulin-à-Vent. It balances velvety texture against pinpoint acidity, while the ripe black raspberry flavor deepens through a long finish.

2006 Nicole Chanrion Domaine de la Voûte des Crozes Côte de Brouilly ($20)

A quick, graceful red, with vivid aromas and fruit that suggests black pepper and blueberries, this Côte de Brouilly (a côte is a hillside) wine comes from five old wooden foudres (a French term for very large oval barrels) in Chanrion’s cellar.

2006 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly ($22)

Thivin has long been one of Beaujolais’s most reliable producers, largely on the strength of this aromatic red from its estate vineyards in the Côte de Brouilly. Its fresh berry fruit is bolstered by fine, dusty tannins.

Plus:

Classic Pairing for Grilled Salmon: Pinot Noir

Published June 2008