These Romans Are Crazy

I was talking before about the mysteries of taste, and how wine can seem to offer aromas which ought not to be desirable, yet in some mysterious fashion are.

Brossette's Empreinte Beaujolais is a case in point. It smells decidedly of strawberries sizzled in butter—a delicious smell—but who would fry strawberries? (Admittedly, I have a recipe for risotto alla fragola, but as has been observed elsewhere, these Romans are crazy)

Perhaps a better analogy - it is all analogy, after all - is with the making of jam, where you add a little butter to the boiling pan, a smell which always throws me back into childhood and innocence.

Or perhaps the point of wine (if it even needs one) is to intoxicate us while offering unlikely flavours and aromas. And that's good enough for me.

Fresh and Tasty and Formerly Fashionable

Yes indeed, it can only be Beaujolais Nouveau. Not quite the first French wine from the 2010 vintage - that would be something white and primeur from Gascogny, I should think - but the first red, and a lovely, traditional, refreshing, all too drinkable glass it is too.

This particular bottling comes from Domaine Brossette, based at Theize, in a district called the Golden Stones. It's a fantastic fresh wine, starting out with loads of bubblegum and banana aromas, although with a little air it becomes more red fruit-y, cherries and raspberries.

Almost without tannins, and decently sharp, it has a lovely flavour of bubblegum, pink Edinburgh rock, and fresh red fruit. Altogether excellent.

Brossette Domaine des Coteaux de Cruix Beaujolais Nouveau 2010. Altogether Excellent = 4(+?).