Coming Back to 05 Beaujolais

A couple years ago BrooklynLady and I went to a friend's house for dinner and I brought a bottle of 2004 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuvée Tardive. The wine was waaaay too young to drink at that stage but I didn't know that, I thought it was just mediocre wine. And it confused me because I so much enjoyed another Roilette bottle I had a week or two earlier. But the first bottle was not the Cuvée Tardive, it was the "regular" Roilette. I didn't know they were two different wines. The one thing I knew for certain, is that I loved the label. How nice is that racehorse, and how great a choice is the orange/yellow background?

Now I know that Cuvée Tardive is the old vines wine, and that it typically requires more time to unfold. Depending on the vintage, it can age and improve for quite some time. I have not yet tasted the new release, the 2006 vintage, but Lyle at Rockss and Fruit says it's really good.

The thing is, the regular wine is fantastic too. It should also be allowed to mellow in the bottle, though. I found even the ripe and generous 2005 to be a bit out-of-whack when I tasted it about 8 months ago. My last bottle hung out in the wine fridge until recently, as my attempt at Pork Adobo (Filipino national dish of pork stewed in vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, black pepper corns, and soy sauce) bubbled on the stove. The 05 regular wine was just amazing.

2005 Clos de Roilette Fleurie, $18 at Chambers Street Wines. If this were poured blind I would have guessed it to be a solid Bourgogne. It has a beautiful mingling of crushed strawberry fruit and leafy earth, with a cool mineral streak running right down the middle. Lip smacking acidity and great balance - this stuff is dangerously good right now. But I didn't like it anywhere near as much when I tried it a while ago. I should have bought more when it was on the shelves.

I re-tasted another 05 Beaujolais on my daughter's first birthday when the relatives were in town. I've had maybe a half case of the 2005 Descombes Morgon now, $22 at Chambers Street, and each bottle is better than the last. I found the Descombes 2006 Regnie to be more accessible than the 05 Morgon when I was drinking Beaujolais like 3 or 4 times a day, I mean week, during the summer of 07. But these days the Morgon is just incredible, with complex fruit and spice notes, and a great mineral streak. Great floral mouth aromas after swallowing too. Everyone at the table loved it, and no one had a clue that they were drinking Beaujolais. Oh, the horror.

I have two bottles of 2005 Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes that are now sleeping in the cellar. I wonder how long should they rest before I open them? That should be exciting. Lots of interesting 2006 Beaujolais is out now too. I'm telling you, there is just far too much interesting wine worth buying these days.