Wine Review –2008 Mommessin Beaujolais Nouveau

It has become a tradition for me to go out and buy some of the newly released Beaujolais Nouveau on the day it comes out and yesterday I continued that tradition. In the past I have always gotten the Georges Duboeuf’s release, but this year I wasn’t able to find any of that label in stores in the Atlanta area (I checked 3 different places). I asked one store employee and they said they would have it in by the weekend and that their shipment was held up. But I was able to find some Mommessin Beaujolais Nouveau. At first I was taken aback when I picked up the bottle. The reason for my reaction is because this particular winery is breaking with tradition and releasing their Nouveau in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Yes, plastic with a screw cap! At first I was a little skeptical of a plastic wine bottle, but after thinking about, it is not a bad idea.

The new PET bottles are made of a plastic that does not breath and will not allow oxygen to permeate the bottle and affect the wine. This eco-friendly alternative is perfect for nouveau’s! Since there is no need to age or cellar any of the nouveau’s and they should be consumed within 6 months of the release, there is no need for thick glass bottles and corks. The size and weight of the cases will decrease which will lower the shipping costs. Which will then decrease the freight and fuel cost, which will decrease the greenhouse emissions. All of this savings in turn will help the consumer and decrease the purchase price. The price for this bottle was $11.99 where the 07 and 06 releases were $13.99. This decision will lessen the carbon footprints that many people are worried about with the made rush to get the nouveau’s out in the market.

On to the tasting notes! Again, please don’t expect a lot from any Beaujolais Nouveaus, they are very young and haven’t had a great deal of time to mature. The 2008 Mommessin Beaujolais Nouveau has a nice garnet color with powerful fruity aromas. It is extremely fruit forward with tastes of raspberry and strawberry along with some hints of herbs. Since there are no tannins, there is a slight bitterness to the wine. The finish is quick, but with the bitterness, that is a good thing. It was a fun wine to drink and I plan on drinking some more in the weeks to come. I am interested to see how the Mommessin and the world famous Georges Duboeuf’s Nouveau stack up to each other. I am sure they will be very similar! I hope to find some Deboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau this weekend. Every wine lover should make a point to try at least one bottle before the ‘08 is history, since the production amount was low this year, they won’t be around for long!

Cheers!