3 questions for...Rudolph Chelminski

1 Your new book is devoted to the story of beaujolais. Why focus on a lowbrow wine?
I have known and more or less fallen in love with the Beaujolais country and Beaujolais people over the last 30 years. They are up against hard times now a little bit because the wine isn’t as fashionable as it used to be. I felt it was time to come to its defense; everyone writes about burgundy and bordeaux but no one has written about beaujolais. Sometimes it is so full of fruit that it makes you think you are biting into a cherry or a strawberry!

2 This year’s batch of beaujolais nouveau is being released on Thursday 15; could you explain how nouveau is different from other beaujolais?
The mistake that a lot of people make is that beaujolais is a wine you drink once a year in November and then forget about for the rest of the year. They forget that there are 13 different kinds of beaujolais. It is best to drink nouveau right away…but [the others] will last for decades. For example, I have tasted a Moulin à Vent from 1976. And it was fabulous.

3 Could you suggest a reliable label for a good cheap bottle?
He’s a friend of mine, but I would naturally suggest Georges Duboeuf. His top-of-the line stuff is a terrific deal: I would suggest a Moulin à Vent, Julienas or Morgon from him. If you can get a 2005 Morgon or Moulin à Vent, you’ve got a great deal.

Chelminski’s I’ll Drink to That: Beaujolais and the French Peasant Who Made It the World’s Most Popular Wine (Gotham Books, $27.50) is out this month. He will be signing books at the French Institute on Thu 15. See Eat outings.

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