Gamay – Celebrations at Dinner Tables

Recently, I had the pleasure to meet a sommelier from Quebec.  She was staying for a few months in our town.  She has worked a few harvests in France with the vignerons whom I respect.  While enjoying a few bottles of wines with her and other friends over a dinner, she blurted out: “Gamay is my favourite.  It accompanies foods so well.”  She went on to say: “Gamay creates an ambiance at a dinner table that no other wines can.” Those are meaningful words that are difficult to describe in words.

With her declaration, I noticed that every bottle on the dinner table was Gamay or a Gamay blend: Noella Morantin ‘Mon Cher’, Puzelat-Bonhomme ‘Le Tel Quel’, Clos duTue-Boeuf ‘La Butte’, Christophe Pacalet ‘Fleurie’, Jean Maupertuis ‘Les PierreNoires’, and Jean Foillard ‘Morgon Cuvee Corcelette’.   Unconsciously, I had brought-up all Gamay and Gamay blends from the cellar for the dinner.

My love for Gamay and Gamay blends know no bounds. Gamay grown in the volcanic hills of Beaujolais and its 10 crus are generally fuller than the Gamay grown on the limestone hills of Loire. Gamay, made with care, has butt-naked exuberance and deliciousness that no other wines can match.  And the prices are so reasonable.

Perhaps, it is the butt-naked exuberance that is translated to the ambiance at dinner tables.  Such ambiance is palpable at my favourite neighbourhood restaurants in Paris: La Nouvelle de Marie, Le Comptoir, Bistro Paul Bert, Le Bratin and Les Pipos.  All restaurants have numerous Gamay and Gamay blends.  Once you experienced such an exuberance evening at one of the restaurants, that joie de vivre will stay with you a lifetime.  Our great local restaurants (L'Abattoir, Pied-A-Terre, Tableau Bar Bistro, La Regalade, Wildebeest and The Acorn - just to name a few) now also carry Gamay and/or Gamay blends from great producers.  

There are more profound wines from other appellations in France, but I cannot think of another varietal that speaks so joyously at a dinner table than Gamay.  Every time my family has a bottle of Beaujolais, Auvergne or Loire Gamay over a meal, I swear there is a hole in my wine glass.  It is empty every time I look at it.

A Canadian Mosaic Dinner - A Korean Dish That Actually Works with Wine!

I was born and raised in Korea.  So, I can declare that this dish actually works with a wine.  As much as I like Korean foods, they are full of peppers, vinegar and pickled-flavours.  Kimchi with Bordeaux or Riesling? I don’t think so. The flavours often fight with wines.  So, it is rare to find a Korean dish that tangos with a wine.  Here is my recipe (serves about 4 people).

• About 1 pound of flank steak
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup of dices onion
• 1 green onion
• 3 table spoon of quality soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil
• 3 to 4 table spoon of brown sugar
• Dash of black pepper
• 1 or 2 pinch of course grey salt
• 1 cayenne pepper (optional)

First, pour yourself a glass of wine. Cut the flank steak into about 3 by 6 inch sizes.  Set the meat in a non-metal container large enough to hold the meet in one to two layers.  Place the rest of ingredients in a mortar or an electric mixer or blender.   Blend for a few seconds until the mixture is roughly smooth.  Pour the mixture into a bowl. Dip your finger into a mixture (in the bowl and not in the blender/mixer - for safety) and taste.  It should be somewhat salty, sweet and hot with a whiff of sesame seed oil fragrance. Adjust salt & sugar, if necessary.

Mix the marinade well with the meat.  Marinate the meat for 2 to 3 days in a refrigerator. Turn over the meat a couple of times.  The flank steak needs long marinating because it helps to tenderize the toughness of the cut – although it is one of the most flavourful cuts.  Fire-up your BBQ. Meanwhile, place a plate in the oven at 150F to warm and to rest the meat after it has been cooked. BBQ the meat to no more than medium rare.  Place the cooked meat on the plate and into the oven.  Turn the oven off and let the meat rest for about 20 minutes.  Slice against the grain about ¼ inch.  

Good with plain short grain or jasmine rice. Even delicious with baguette or roasted potatoes.  Serve with a salad.  Or how about a pasta dish and some stirred-fried vegetables with the meat.  I am in Canada after all, blessed with riches of ethnic foods – no need to stick to a formula, hey. 

The dish goes well with Cuvee Granit from Domaine de la Pepiere of Marc Ollivier or Crus (Descombes, Foillard or Pacalet). The spicy, sour-cherry Le Telquel from Puzelat-Bonhomme is a fine accompaniment.

The leftover meat makes a wicked sandwich.  Just splash some mayo, hot mustard and instantly-pickled onions (sliced onion with some salt, sugar and vinegar – mix & soak for about 1 hour or overnight).

     

Thierry Puzelat & Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme – ‘Le Tel Quel’

With a label that depicts a dachehund with tail wagging and name that no English speaking person can pronounce, this wine has all sorts of names. Here are some of the names when the customers phone or email me after tasting the wine:

• “You know, the wine with a wiener dog”
• “The one with a funny label”
• “The T-Q” (my favourite so far. Sounds like a spy character.)
• “The one with no vintage”
• “The one with Blue Label”
• “The one with all the varietals except the kitchen sink”
• “The delicious, spicy wine that is made by that Puzelat guy”
• “Never mind, I am sending you the picture of bottle on my iPhone right now”

All those nicknames are welcome, of course.  And I think that is what Thierry Puzelat had in mind when he came-up with the wine.  In France, it is bottled under the name of ‘Le Pitit Tannique’.  Every year, Thierry Puzelat takes a barrel or two to the legendary wine shop Auge in Paris and bottles by hand for the customers, who line-up to buy them.

Thierry Puzelat is a gifted and serious vigneron, but he is always on the look out for fun.  Thierry Puzelat with his wine business partner Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme (hence the name of their winery ‘Puzelat-Bonhomme’) decided to have fun by sourcing organically grown grapes from the friends that Thierry and Pierre-Olivier have known for years.  By the way, Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme is just as gifted vigneron, who has been working in the Puzelat family’s domain LeClos du Tue-Boeuf for years.  The wine is a blend of (are you sitting down?) Grolleau, Gamay and Pineau d’Aunis.

‘Le Tel Quel’ is Vin de France because those funny Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée in Loire (whose members mostly consist of huge industrial wine producers) thinks that the traditionally grown Grolleau and Pineau d’Aunis should not be allowed in the AOC Touraine.   Until the 2010 vintage, under the Vin de France, the vintage was not allowed on the label.  I am not certain that Thierry Puzelat and Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme would ever label it with the vintage.  The latest shipment is the 2010 vintage.  The wine is produced in tiny amounts and it sells out every year based on the strength of the vigneron.  Be very picky about your vigneron, not the vintages.

All fun aside, the wine is one of the most compelling and DELICIOUS wines.  The wine even tastes better chilled.  Thierry and Pierre-Olivier serve the wine straight from the cellar temperature when I visit them.  The wine has that spicy taste with berry exuberance anchored by a touch of minerals.  With alcohol barely hitting 12.5%, the wine is very fresh. At our home, we have it with a wide range of dishes, such as roasted chicken, steaks, pasta, and even grilled salmon.  In an unexpected sort of way, Thierry Puzelat’s ‘Le Tel Quel’ has become our house wine.  And I am beginning to understand why those Parisians line-up to buy the wine at the wine shop Auge.