food and drink book releases
The Beaujolais renaissance Stephen Barrett's Wine Review
The Ice Kitchen
Author: Shivi Ramoutar Publisher: HarperCollins RRP: £13.59 Hardcover
Step into the clever world of The Ice Kitchen – maximise convenience, cut down on waste and save money and time without sacrificing flavour. The recipes are designed so that half can be eaten at once and the rest stored away in the freezer and recooked straight from frozen. Unlock your freezer’s potential with freezer filing, ice cube butters, salvation sauces, and Shivi’s magic no-cook Ice Kitchen Jam.
The Daly Dish
Author: Gina and Karol Daly Publisher: Gill Books RRP: £17.59 Hardcover
Like many of you Beaujolais was amongst the first known French wine region to make an impression on this young wine taster! As a young waiter in St Ives in Cornwall I noticed this easily-pronounced wine was prominent on all wine lists and off-licences. At that time it had hardly made inroads into Supermarkets and dedicated wine shops but all was about to change towards the 1980’s as the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon was about to burst. But first, my sojourns to Paris in the 1970’s opened up this colourful world of Beaujolais as I trawled the back-street Bistros scooping up the atmosphere, food and wine! Along with Paris Bistro staples Muscadet, Cotes du Rhone and Sancerre my early thirst for knowledge had began with gusto as I learned about village styles, vintage variation and (best) drinkability. Beaujolais had hit a nerve with me and my quest, noting Beaujolais Primeur (later Nouveau) piled high in the local Supermarkets and Wine Merchants, I bought some. Supple, huge fruitiness and light/easy to drink it was a revelation. Offered lightly chilled (as in Beaujolais) and served with rustic Lyonnaise cuisine (Pate de Campagne, Jambon, Boeuf Bourguignon and Fromage) it opened up a whole new world of flavours. This cuisine is tailor-made for young Beaujolais wines and was instrumental in my becoming a Bistro Chef!
Gina and Karol Daly have always been larger than life, there just isn’t as much of them anymore. Together they’ve lost almost ten stone, and they’ve done it while eating food that looks like it could have come straight from the local takeaway.
Eventually visiting, tasting and embracing Beaujolais culture led me to discovering the truly delicious Beaujolais Blanc was also available! The only two grapes allowed when creating Beaujolais are Gamay for the red (and a little Rose) and Chardonnay for the white. The defined styles of ‘up front and juicy’ for the reds, and ‘lean and elegant’ for the whites are still very evident to this day.
Just over a year ago they started sharing their recipes on Instagram and have since garnered over 100,000 followers
The Appellation regulations for the reds are based on the village destinations, 10 villages are allowed to place their
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names firmly to the fore on the bottle’s label. As you would expect with different village locations, different styles of wine are evident in the final presentation. With a new eagerness evident for younger wine tasters discovering Beaujolais now is the perfect time to take the plunge and embrace (for many) a different style of wine. Wines labelled (simply) Beaujolais or Beaujolais Village are also worth a search for as quality and price points are also in harmony. The current vintage of 2018 is now on the markets and as with most of European vineyards it was an exceptional year for winemakers with the wine keeping well over the next few years. I have recently discovered that new well-travelled family winemakers in Beaujolais are now making their wines with the use of oak (like the Pinot Noir’s from neighbouring Burgundy) which adds complexity enabling the wines to develop over a greater number of years. These wines are sought after and represent excellent value in today’s market. Like me you might wish to embrace Beaujolais as one of your wines of choice. Take my tip and ask the professionals they are the ones in the know…
Stephen Barrett is a Wine, Food and Travel Writer based in Plymouth Stephen welcomes correspondence via his website stephenbarrett.com LinkedIn and Facebook as Stephen Barrett or @bistrowineman on Twitter and Instagram.