Opened with a light dinner of caprese salad, a baguette, fresh corn on the cob and a bit of leftover jerk chicken:
1999 Domaine Coteau de Bel-Air (Jean-Marie Appert) Chiroubles
Fairly dark for a Beaujolais with some orange at the rim, it smelled of boysenberries when first opened, later developing quite noticeable game/leather notes. On the palate, it was fairly weighty, with a bit of tannin left, good acidity and a sense of dark berry fruit, later complicated by the leather/meat character.
This wine was hand imported by us from the cellar of Mr. Appert in '01. He's a friend of a friend, so we'd stopped by his cave for a chat and tasting some older Bojos. At that time, he mentioned having recently opened a '47 Julienas (his property extends across the border, so he makes both) that tasted like a mature Cote D'Or red. In this case, I'd have guessed a N. Rhone Syrah of medium weight had I tasted this wine blind. This is clearly a wine made for the long haul and is as far as one can get from the confected banana-esque school of Bojo. More's the pity that there's no US importer for his wines.
Mark Lipton