Beaujolais to Bangalore
Come November and wine aficionados all over the world, who are generally difficult-to-please, let their hair down and party away to the taste of Noveau Beaujolais. Beaujolais Nouveau is made from the Gamay Noir Jus Blanc grape, better known as Gamay. Unlike the more traditional wine, the ‘new’ Beaujolais should not be stored.
An honest peasant drink with a light fruity flavour, it is meant to be drunk by the gallon soon after its release which generally happens in the third week of November. A lot of the wine is apparently shipped to other parts of the world, especially America where it is served with Thanksgiving meals. A Beaujolais evening at the Leela saw a select gathering of wine lovers enjoying the newly released wine with gay abandon.
“It reminds me of France where we used to celebrate the end of the harvest and drink Beaujolais with much festivity and fun. This wine was not allowed to be sold outside the country till December 15 in days of yore. It used to be a fun event for people to race from Beaujolais (the region where it is grown) to Paris with the first bottles of the new vintage. It’s great to have it in Bangalore,” says Marcel, a Parisian living here. Along with the wine were a selection of fine cheese and cured meats like parma ham, salamis, salmon and chicken liver pate, assorted breads and salads paired beautifully with the Beaujolais. “We have also served cheeses from other parts of Europe like the Italian Gorgonzola with its salty bite and distinctive blue veins, a Spanish blue cheese, besides the world famous French cheeses like Brie or the luscious, buttery Camembert with its thin, edible, aromatic rind and of course an evening like this would not be complete without the sweet/savoury taste of perfectly cured wafer thin slices of delectable Parma ham to go with the breads and salads,” says Executive Chef Jeff Pelaez.
While sipping the wine, some of the guests felt it tasted like raspberry, others like pear but they all agreed that the sweet fruity wine was a great excuse to party whether you lived in New York or Bangalore.