Some people limit Rosé just to summertime but being from Miami and living in an endless summer, you know my mantra is Rosé all day. While it’s snowing in most of the country and my neighbors to the north are breaking out their red wine selections, I’m pausing to #StopAndSmellTheRosé with a bottle of 2018 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Rosé Nouveau.
Their history began over four centuries ago, when the Duboeuf family was producing wine in the Mâconnais region. In 1933, Georges was born, and at a very young age adopted a passion for the family business. At 18 years old, he and his brother took over the business. Georges set off with the family-grown wines on his bicycle and meeting top restaurateurs. He then started bottling wine and developing relationships with other regional winemakers, which allowed him to offer wines that reflected the great diversity of the surrounding vineyards. Georges created a group of producers, “L’Ecrin Mâconnais-Beaujolais”, that represented 40+ winemakers from all appellations of the region.
Courtesy Georges Duboeuf
Georges created Les Vins Georges Duboeuf in September of 1964, which is also the day he started his wine merchant business. In continuing the family tradition, Georges and his wife Rolande were joined by their son Franck. While Georges and Franck are still managing the Vins Georges Duboeuf business today, they are hopeful that the following generation (Georges’ grandson, Adrien) will join the family business.
The wine is made with 100% Gamay (my newfound “crush” grape). The grapes were trained in a Gobelet trellis system. Harvesting of this wine is done manually, in whole bunches, from vines that are over 20 years old. 10,000 cases of the Rosé were imported into the U.S.
What attracts you first is the label, which is an artwork, Foolish Pleasure, by Chole Meyer. The wine is pale salmon, kind of pinkish, in color. It has a strong, fruity aroma on the nose and red berries and citrus, like grapefruit, on the palate. It’s medium dry, fresh, and bright. A perfect summer, or winter, sipper, especially at $13.99. Cheers!
