Gil Kulers' Wine Pick: 2010 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau, France

One Thumb Up

Pleasant, fresh aromas of raspberries and Concord grapes. Tasted lightly chilled, it produced flavors of blueberry, dry strawberry, candied apple and an earthy, truffle note.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging up from Thumbs Down, One Thumb Mostly Up, One Thumb Up, Two Thumbs Up, Two Thumbs Way Up and Golden Thumb Award. Prices are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents, a local distributor or retailer.

Earlier this month, I decided to pop a bottle of Georges Duboeuf 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau for no other reason than it has been an age since I’ve had a Beaujolais Nouveau. B.N. and I parted ways a few years back after I tired of trying to convince myself that I liked that pink bubble gum flavor.

I’d love to say it was delicious. It wasn’t. But I can’t say it was bad either. Somewhere along the line it lost its Bazooka Joe quality. I think many wine drinkers would enjoy this wine (a few might be surprised), especially at $11 a bottle (and I’ve seen it for as little as $8.50 around town). Given the choice, I still think I would pony up the extra five to 10 bucks for a Beaujolais-Villages or a Cru Beaujolais—some of the best values in the wine world. These “regular” 2010 Beaujolais wines will be released sometime in late 2011. That’s not to say we can’t once again raise a glass of fresh, fruity 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau and say: “Here’s to wine! Here’s to life!”

Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.