james suckling uncorked

I just dropped a Zantac. Heartburn. Burping. Sour stomach. It must be Beaujolais Nouveau.

Luckily, I was only tasting. If I had to drink a glass or two of the stuff ….

It’s always been a little like that. I remember living in Paris when the raw, young wines would come out on the market and I felt inclined to drink some of the year’s newest wine. It was always a question of how bad you were going to feel the next morning. With each glass, you would ask yourself: How much is this stuff going to hurt me? Occasionally, it didn’t, but that was usually in exceptional years. I think in 2005 I felt OK the day after.

Unfortunately, 2006 is not an exceptional year. In fact, I would say it is not even an average one. As much as wine producers in Beaujolais say otherwise, the vintage was a difficult one. Wet and poor weather for most of August and a mixed September resulted in weak, sometimes unripe grapes. And it shows in the Nouveau.

Here’s my advice. If you feel the need to drink some Nouveau tonight, this is my list of what is going to hurt you the least: Bouchard-Aîné & Fils, Labouré-Roi, Jean Bererd & Fils Le Perréon Domaine de la Madone, Domaine de Bel-Air and Joël Rochette.

Otherwise, why not celebrate the Nouveau by drinking something else?