After a trip to Beaujolais in 2003 I made it my mission in life to spread the word on real Gamay. I realized that most folks think all Beaujolais is Nouveau and is meant to taste like bubblegum and bananas. A far cry from the commercial crap, I was introduced to small producers such as Louis Claude Desvignes, Michel Tete, Jean Paul Brun, Georges Descombes and Pierre Chermette; I discovered that they made delicious wines that were fermented naturally and never chaptalize. Their wines boasted purity of fruit and many of them aged beautifully and get all pinotize (their way of saying that the wines take on a Pinot Noir like character when aged) especially the Morgons and Moulin a Vents. Upon my return I became a huge fan of Clos De Roilette and of course my sway towards natural wines taught me about Marcel Lapierre and Jules Chauvet. That fall, the year of my trip to the Beaujolais region, I threw an Anti-Nouveau Beaujolais Party on Beaujolais Nouveau day. It was a great success and Jim and I finally did a repeat performance last week.

Everyone brought along amazing bottles. We had three Lapierre Morgons (2006 and 2007), which showed stunning fruit. The 2006 was leaner and more streamlined than the fruitier ‘07 but both were gorgeous. The rest of the list: Dom de la Chapelle des Bois Fleurie 2006, Clos de la Roilette Fleurie 2006, Laurent Martray Brouilly “Corentin: 2006, Philippe Jambon Baltailles 2004 (arguably the best wine of the night and had that distinct prickle you find in the most natural of natural wines), 2 bottles of Jean-Claude Lapalu Brouilly (one ’06 and an ’07), Domaine du Vissoux Moulin a Vent Rochegres 2001 (it had aged beautifully) and finally a bottle of Dom des Terres Vivantes La Lutine Beaujolais-Villages 2007 – a newcomer from Charles Woods’ (formerly of David Bowler Wine) new importing company.

One unsuspecting guest didn’t quite get the concept and showed up with a bottle of George Duboeuf Beajolais Nouveau in hand. I had to hush the wine geeks in the room but ultimately it was a good thing the bottle made it past security. It proved my point. It reeked of synthetics and smelled just like banana smelling-and-tasting commercial yeast. Yuk.

Thanks to everyone who joined in the festivities and a special shout out to Tara, who made a very yummy Indian pudding, and Jim for cooking enough chili to serve an army. It was a fun party and all I have to say for now is: same time next year?