We opened a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau 2018 last week end from November last year. It was produced by JP Selles a négociant located just south of Lyon. Although it is not a top class wine we enjoyed it with food. Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk straightaway, after it has been bottled, but it is better to let the wine rest for a while before it is opened especially if it is transported. In this case the wine was bought in in a french supermarket and then transported to the UK.
Every year I buy a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau and very often I find it undrinkable and pour it away.
JP Selles' wine is a remarkable exception; we actually enjoyed it and it did not taste anything like some of its rustic counterparts. Keeping it for a few months before opening probably helped its development.
Another pleasant surprise was a bottle of 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape bought from the British supermarket "Tesco". My friend gave it to me when he joined us for dinner one evening with his partner. Usually he bought his wine from an off-licence; he must have been in a bit of a hurry. I laid the wine down and forgot about it. Time passed by and unfortunately my good friend passed away. We used to talk about everything ranging from travel to astronomy and of course wine. We even talked and exchanged views for hours about politics and religion without any rancour and always in good humour.
The wine had kept so well and after 9 years in the bottle it had retained its vigour and its fruity flavour .The tannin had softened and there was a nutty taste of almonds mixed with vanilla. A concentrated and complex wine that tasted like a typical Chateauneuf du Pape - superb. Whoever the Tesco's buyer was deserves a big prize.
This wine cannot be slugged back; it is too powerful to drink without food. My wife and I drank a half bottle one evening with a shoulder of welsh lamb. The next evening I made a cawl with the the leftover lamb and we finished off the rest of the bottle with it.
The wine of course brought back fond memories of our friend and the conviviality that wine lovers share.
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254092414
https://www.sommelix.fr/producteur-jean-paul-selles-8c9dae323
