Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Beaujolais Villages People

Today I had a lunch at Panera (which, from now on, will be referred to as Bread Co. because Saint Louis Bread Co. is the former name of Panera) with my boyfriend.

On our way home, we popped into a place I've been interested to explore: an otherwise nondescript office building with the words "Wine Library" hung over the door.

Walking in, there was a rush of excitement: two floors stocked with wine, spirits, and cheese!

I'm somewhat of a novice to the true art of alcoholic beverages, and just started following The Wine Spectator on Twitter. I've heard a lot of buzz about Beaujolais Nouveau this time of year. I asked a helpful man, "Where can I find the Beaujolais?"

"I have some over here," he said. "You don't mean Beaujolais Nouveau, do you? We're out of that, it went fast."

"Uhm...no," I said, wanted to seem at least a little informed. But he must have caught onto me.

"Beaujolais Nouveau is like Kool-Aid. You want Beaujolais Villages, anyway." He pointed me to this bottle.

A good brand, a little more expensive than the others at $12, Domaine Joel Rochette is the way Beaujolais Villages is supposed to taste.





I was excited to get home to try it with food. A red wine is always better with a food pairing.

Fortunately, the only foods in my refrigerator sufficed. A loaf of Pumpernickel Rye, half a log of fromage de chèvre, and a few extra ingredients inspired me to try Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa's, French Tartines



Here is the spread!



Mike's man-tartine with toasted Pumpernickel, warm goat cheese, and pepperoni with some extra spices





My dried blueberry and pomegranate balsamic tartine:





And a plain tartine for simplicity's sake:





The crispy complexity of the Pumpernickel, the creaminess of the cheese with the pop of spicy pepperoni and tender youth of the fruit was the perfect backdrop for such a colorful and unassuming wine.



Beaujolais Villages is my new favorite! Better than any Cabernet I've ever tried!

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