Nouveau!!! Almost Time.

Image Source

Sorry folks...been busy and will be leaving tomorrow to Phoenix for work...yummy foodie posts will be few and far between for the next week.

In the meantime, I read this fun bit from Karen MacNeil author of The Wine Bible:

ASK KAREN
Dear Karen: I read recently that Beaujolais is made differently from regular red wine. The article mentioned “carbonic maceration.” What is that?

Dear Reader: It’s a good time to be thinking about Beaujolais, since Beaujolais Nouveau (the young fresh version) will be released with much fanfare later this month. Most winemakers in Beaujolais do indeed use a special fermentation technique called semi-carbonic maceration. In this method, the grapes are not crushed but put whole into a tank, which is then closed. The grapes begin to ferment from the inside out, meaning that the juice inside the grapes ferments without the skins breaking until the very end of the process. This method reduces contact between the juice and components in the skins such as tannin. As a result, wines made by semi-carbonic maceration tasted extremely fruity and have little of the tannic bite that many other wines possess.

Here's a previous ASK KAREN I shared with you.