Duboeuf’s flower label “selection” Fleurie may have been suffering a bit from its recent bottling when I tasted it, and the corresponding 2009 Fleurie Clos des Garants – from the stony core of that excellent site on the eastern edge of its appellation, toward Moulin-a-Vent – was slightly reduced and rough. Scents of ripe blueberry and blackberry with overtones of wood smoke and smoked meat usher in a palate of surprising graininess and a hint of heat, which detract from an otherwise juicy fruit prominence. This certainly grips, with notes of bacon and toasted nuts accenting the berries. It will be a wine to revisit after bottling and a post-bottling rest. The vast and on the whole stylistically consistent range of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais bottlings – a majority issuing from individual domaines – represents a reliable source of value, and this has seldom been more true (nor has the range – most, but not all of which, I tasted – been more vast) than from 2009, which it is clear Duboeuf considers as fine a vintage as he has witnessed – although he notes, “It was very difficult this year to choose the date of bottling,” and many wines were still in tank awaiting that decision when I tasted in April. I continue to find as a general rule that Duboeuf’s wines are best drunk within two years of bottling, so in my notes I have made reference to aging potential only for any wines that I expect might be exceptions to that rule of thumb. (Wines identified solely by their appellation are so-called “Selections Georges Duboeuf” cuvees, labeled with his company’s signature flower labels. There are Regnie and Chenas selection bottlings that I did not taste, the latter being the sole bottling of its appellation this vintage, due to the ravages of hail.)Importer: William Deutsch & Son Ltd., White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-9463

The 2008 Fleurie Clos des Garants comes from the stony core of a site more familiar from Pierre Chermette’s consistently outstanding (and stylistically very different) interpretation. This offers what in the context of the vintage is an unusually soothing, rounded palate impression, brimming with ripe plum and red raspberry, and finishing with hints of char and fruit pit bitterness, if not much complexity. Consistent in style and amazingly low in price, the myriad Beaujolais bottlings of George Duboeuf continue to represent outstanding values in the American marketplace. In April, I tasted nearly their entire range of 2008s, with few exceptions, already bottled. The overwhelming majority of these made my cut as value recommendations, including some – from among that wide range of domaines with which Duboeuf has long-standing commercial relationships – that might not show up in the U.S. market. The so-called “Selections Georges Duboeuf” cuvees continue to bear a variation on this negociant’s signature flower labels, but to save space in our print edition, please assume that any wine not otherwise designated refers to a member of that class. In general, I have preferred DuBoeuf’s Beaujolais bottlings in their youth, with a few of the domaine crus having exhibited with bottle age a complexity concomitant with the effort to cellar them, and where not otherwise noted, my recommendation is to enjoy the following wines over the next couple of years. The Duboeuf 2008 Beaujolais-Villages – at 30,000 cases, representing their largest single lot of wine, and twice the volume of their appellation Beaujolais – was a bit green and rustic by comparison, and multiple bottles of a Chateau des Vierres bottling were oddly inexpressive and drying on the occasion of my visit. Duboeuf’s flower label 2008 Fleurie is another of their wines of this vintage that is atypically austere, and in this instance a bit much so, and their 2008 Fleurie Domaine des Quatre Vents and Fleurie Chateau des Bachelards were a bit drying and rough under the influence both of its barrel component and its very recent bottling when I tasted it.Importer: William Deutsch & Son Ltd., White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-9463

Candied red cherries, a large bouquet of wild flowers, and blackberries make up the aromatics of the medium to full-bodied 2005 Fleurie Domaine du Clos des Garands. Broad and generous, this glycerin-imbued effort sports a fleshy red cherry dominated personality. Deep, seamless, and long in the finish, it is a candidate for drinking over the next 5-6 years. Importer: William Deutsch and Sons, White Plains, NY; tel (914) 251-9463.