Fleurie Cru Beaujolais and Pot au Feu

Fleurie Cru Beaujolais from Burgundy is a great wine to pair with Stephane’s Pot au Feu. Let’s learn more about this wine, how it tastes and why it is a good pairing.

SUGGESTED WINE: Fleurie Cru Beaujolais

LOCATION: The Beaujolais region is located north of Lyon in eastern part of France. Between Burgundy in the north and Rhône in the south, it runs along the Saône River. Wines here have been crafted since the days of Ancient Rome. The area receives lots of sunshine and has granite-based soils that gives excellent structure to the wines. The Gamay grape is used to make all red Beaujolais wines. Handpicking of the grapes is one of the well-kept secrets of this region and it allows entire clusters to be fermented in specific style characteristic to most of Beaujolais wines.

FLAVOR PROFILE: Fleurie is one of the 10 Crus Beaujolais. It produces elegant wine with a refined, silky body. Deep red in color with floral and fruity aromas ranging from violet to rose with red fruit notes. Fleurie is in the northern part of Beaujolais and covers an area of three square miles. The soil here is almost entirely made up of pink granite and is unique to this part of Beaujolais.

SUGGESTED SERVING TEMPERATURE: 57° – 60° F (14° – 16° C)

WHY: As always let us start with asking, what is the main component of our dish? As Stephane explained in his video, the meat is definitely the star of our dish. In this case I would choose the contrasting flavors rule and choose a red wine that has enough structure to contrast the fat of the meat, but not so powerful to cover up all the secondary flavors of the vegetables and of the broth. We want something able to elevate all of the flavors without overpowering or disappearing. A Fleurie has all of these characteristics. It is light and refreshing with a very aromatic nose, but still has some structure to complement the meat component of this amazing dish.

Santé!

Alessandro

"Nunc est bibendum." - Horace