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Wine without rules

2007.jpgHappy New Year!

You’ll have to wait 45 more days to watch the ball drop at Times Square. But you can get a head start on the revelry by celebrating New Year’s today. Because today we celebrate the New Year for wine.

Every third Thursday of November, the first wine of the vintage is released. And it’s always Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine made from the Gamay grape in the Beaujolais region of France. Just as we give special recognition to the first baby born in the New Year, the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau is always cause for celebration. Because only 12 weeks ago, the grapes that make up this wine were still on the vine. It’s just a baby.

Think back to your first kiss. Sweaty palms and nervous giggles. That sense of anticipation. Chances are you still remember the sweet feeling that washed over you when your lips finally met. Beaujolais Nouveau is like that. It’s fresh and juicy. Uncomplicated. Soft and supple. And ready now.

Georges Duboeuf, known as the King of Beaujolais, describes the taste of his 2007 vintage: Crisp and delicious flavors of red cherry, fresh plum and sweet pomegranate.  It’s a red wine that drinks like a white, a perfect choice for those who normally reach for a white wine. Pair it with anything from Thanksgiving turkey to Chinese take-out. Just put a little chill on the bottle first—15 minutes in the fridge will do the trick.

Duboeuf has been jetting Beaujolais Nouveau to America for 25 vintages. His labels are always fun and a little bit funky. And his wine is always approachable. At $10.99 a bottle, it’s a great excuse for a party.

To fete the 25th anniversary, Duboeuf has created a commemorative poster featuring labels from all 25 years. To snag a poster or a tee sporting the label lineup, visit winewithoutrules.com. Better yet, enter the How Do You Do Beaujolais Nouveau YouTube Video Contest. The best video wins a cool $2,000.

Shake some action

fa07_193837_w.jpgChristmas is coming, the catalogs are arriving, and I’m already making my list for Santa.

Red Envelope has a fabulous artisanal salt sampler that I’ve been drooling over. A pinch of this and a smidge of that and your culinary creations are sure to sing. I’ve been on the prowl for sel gris—gray salt hand harvested on France’s Brittany coast—and this collection has it, along with 23 other salts from more than a dozen countries. Salt of this stature is tres cher, so having smaller jars to play around with is a definite advantage. Reorder your favorites from SaltWorks.

Here’s what’s shakin’:

Aguni, Premium Japanese Sea Salt: Extracted by filtering sea water through bamboo branches to produce this delicious mineral-dense salt.

Alaea – Hawaiian Sea Salt (coarse grain): Traditional Hawaiian Sea Salt. Hawaiian Red Clay adds nutrients and flavor.

Bamboo Korean Roasted Salt: Produced by roasting sea salt in clay-sealed bamboo stalks, allowing the salt to absorb minerals from these natural elements while being purified.

Bolivian Rose Salt (coarse grain): Harvested at the heart of the Andes Mountains, its natural rose color makes it one of the most beautiful salts available.

Cyprus – Mediterranean Flake Salt: A favorite among professional chefs, its unique pyramid-shaped crystals have a fresh ocean flavor and a satisfying crunch.

Cyprus – Cyprus Black Lava Flake Salt: Mediterranean Sea salt combined with activated charcoal, its dramatic color and delicate texture make this finishing salt ideal for tableside presentation.

Durango, Hickory Smoked Sea Salt: Flaked sea salt, smoked over genuine hickory wood, this salt adds an authentic smoked flavor to any dish.

Fleur de Sel de Guérande – French “Flower of Salt”: Accepted by many chefs as the best finishing salt in the world, its young salt crystals are skimmed from the surface of salt ponds in France.

Flor de Sal – Portuguese “Flower of Salt”: Premium hand-harvested sea salt from Portugal.

Flower of Bali – Tropical Sea Salt: Delicate sea salt crystals that form on the surface of tropical salt beds, this salt is hand harvested and only available in limited quantities.

Fum̩e de Sel РChardonnay Oak Smoked Salt: Premium sea salt that has been slowly smoked with oak wine barrels used for Chardonnay production. Prized for its gentle smoke flavor with a hint of wine.

Hiwa Kai – Hawaiian Black Lava Salt: Solar-evaporated Pacific sea salt, combined with activated charcoal to provide added health benefits. Stunning black color and silky texture.

Himalayan Pink Salt – Fine Grain: Pure, hand-mined ancient sea salt found deep inside the pristine Himalayan Mountains. Crystals range in color from sheer white to varying shades of pink to deep reds, reflecting 84 trace elements and iron.

Kala Namak – Indian Black Salt – Fine Grain: An essential ingredient in authentic East Indian cuisine, this salt has a distinctive aroma and flavor of egg yolks. making it unforgettable.

Murray River – Australian Pink Flake Salt: Prized for its gorgeous apricot color and delicate flaky texture. Melts quickly and evenly—a perfect finishing salt.

Peruvian Pink – Mountain Spring Salt: Sourced from a natural spring 10,000 feet high in the Peruvian mountains where the warm spring water seeps into terraced salt ponds. Hand-harvested for over 2,000 years, its strongly-flavored light pink crystals have a high moisture content.

Pure Ocean, Kosher Flake Sea Salt: Unique, pyramid-shaped crystals with stair-step sides give this salt a superb ability to adhere to food—and make it a fabulous choice for garnishing libations served in a salt-rimmed glass.

Salish – Alder Smoked Salt (fine grain): Naturally smoked over Northwest Red Alderwood, giving food a genuine smokehouse taste on or off the BBQ.

Sel Gris de Guérande (fine grain): Hand harvested from the prestigious salt ponds of Guérande, France, this healthy replacement for ordinary table salt is stone ground to make it easier to dispense from a shaker.

Sel Gris de Guérande (coarse grain): An unrefined whole mineral sea salt, hand harvested from the prestigious salt ponds of Guérande, France.

Sel de Mer, Mediterranean Sea Salt (coarse grain): Solar-evaporated Mediterranean Sea Salt, its naturally white, dry crystals are ideal for use in a salt grinder or as a roasting salt.

Trapani, Sicilian Sea Salt: Hand harvested from the salt pans along the famous salt road that runs up the west coast of Sicily from Trapani to Marsala. Delicate crystals, full of flavor.

Velvet, Grey Sea Salt: Stone ground to a fine powder, this hand-harvested French sea salt has a buttery mouth feel, making it a terrific choice for topping savory noshes.

Yakima, Applewood Smoked Sea Salt: Smoked over Yakima Valley applewood, this salt adds delicious natural smoked flavor to foods.