Much-hyped wine a perfect match for beans
Print Edition
ISACS is the founder and CEO of EnjoyGourmet, a leading gourmet digital (www.enjoygourmet.com.cn) and print media company in China. He has authored over a dozen wine and food books including the awarded ISACS Guides and other gourmet books and is a wine consultant to governments, wine regions and organizations. He also hosts wine events for leading organizations and companies throughout China. Contact John via jcolumn@enjoygourmet.com.
Behold the common bean. For much of history this protein and fiber wonder has enhanced the health of humans and staved off starvation. Today’s iDeal section looks at the scrumptious world of fresh beans. Some, most notably the fava or broad bean, originate from the Old World; and many are from the New World, including green, kidney, black and lima beans.
Other species of legumes — like peas, chick peas and lentils — also play important historical and current roles in our diet.
The hegemony of the broad bean and peas in Western diets changed when Columbus brought back a variety of new beans from his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. Soon green, kidney, lima, black and navy beans captured the fancy of the European epicureans. While dried beans dominated the ancient world, new advances in transportation and technology during the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution allowed for greater consumption of fresh beans. A new golden age of bean had begun.
Many popular Chinese and Western dishes are based on beans, both dried and fresh. Delicious by themselves, these dishes are even more scrumptious when accompanied by a synergistic wine. One of the most bean-friendly wines styles comes from southern Burgundy.
Beaujolais
Much maligned and disparaged today, Beaujolais is quite like the late great comedian Rodney Dangerfield. The region just doesn’t get respect. Of course, there are reasons why wine lovers look down on Beaujolais, starting with the ubiquitous Beaujolais Nouveau.
In 1985 the AOC authorities allowed new vintage wines to be released on the third Thursday of November at midnight and producers like George Duboeuf took advantage with marketing campaigns built around a race to Paris carrying the first bottles of the vintage. The slogan “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!” literally in English, “The Beaujolais has arrived!” became famous in France and elsewhere. With unprecedented publicity events and advertising, this annual madness became the most successful wine marketing campaign in the world. All forms of transportation from jets to balloons to elephants were used to rush the new wines to the far corners of the globe. The problem was that these carbonic-maceration-method wines were drinkable at best.
Instead of the popular Beaujolais Nouveau, I recommend the higher quality villages and cru-level Beaujolais. When you see the word “villages” on the label it denotes a higher standard of Beaujolais, a wine with more depth, complexity and character. The fruitiness of Gamay grape is still there but so are added layers of flavors and a longer more satisfying finish. Even better are the cru Beaujolais that are named after villages in the region.
These stand at the very the top of the Beaujolais quality pyramid. There are ten cru Beaujolais wines. All make good wines but the best are Moulin-a-Vent, Chenas and Morgon that make the fullest bodied and most complex wines of Beaujolais.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
