Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med+ ruby, purple rim
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful, red fruit, black cherry, juicy raspberry, spice, floral, grapey
Mouth: dry, high acid, med- tannin, med alcohol, med- body, med flavour intensity, grapey, cherry, juicy, med length
All in all: Good quality: the high acidity and tongue-coating brightness is well balanced; 100 percent ambient yeast gives a lovely complexity. The finish could be longer, and the mid-palate seems a little hollow.
Identity guess: Mid-priced Beaujolais-Villages from France; 2 years old.
Is really: Mid-priced Beaujolais-Villages from France; 2 years old.

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 6]

YES.

Let the record show that I actually guessed this wine correctly right down to the very wine – it was the only wine during the class in which I didn’t really second guess the grape, region, or any other factor. I was so excited that I wrote YES BITCH in big red letters on my tasting note, and I was afraid someone would see it so I covered it with my spit bucket and avoided doing some kind of dumb victory dance i.e. let’s not draw more attention to myself so I have to read out a tasting note.

The wine is interesting. There is partial carbonic maceration, so you do get some bright cheery fruit, but the 100 percent ambient yeasts gives an interesting personality to the wine. There is a funky and slight medicinal character that you get and might expect from foreign yeast, but the character as a whole is very much vibrantly juicy, grapey, and happy – so it does retain that big fruity Bojo character, but there’s much more complexity. Interestingly enough, the wine is also unfined and unfiltered.

Most notably, there is a tongue-coating acid that comes off as very fresh and well-integrated.

The last time I had this wine was after the 2013 Vancouver International Wine Festival. I stopped by a friend’s house (who was just moving in at the time) and it was great. Except it was raining.

Producer: Christophe Pacalet
Designation: N/A
Region: France
Sub-Region: Beaujolais
Variety: Gamay
ABV: 12.5%
Vintage: 2011
Tasted: May 15, 2013
Price: $22.90