The good news is that the Duboeuf nouveau has some character this year. It's not the soft, soapy, banana frosting wine that it was last year. There is actually more of a berry aroma, and even some tannins and acid in the back. All told, this vintage is a marked improvement over most of the past several years.
The bad news is the price. The Duboeuf costs as much as $14 in Dallas, and that's silly. Nouveau's entire reason for being is that it's cheap, since it doesn't age. When nouveau starts to cost as much as red wine that has spent six or nine months in oak, there is very little incentive to drink it. The Duboeuf went on sale in Paris today at 6.5 euros, which is a bit more than $8. That's probably closer to the right price.
In fact, this has been a very controversial year for nouveau. There were evens calls to boycott the wine because it isn’t especially eco-friendly. I mentioned this earlier, but my cohort in regional wine, Dave McIntyre, had an even better take on how silly a boycott was.
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