Do not miss the French le bourru wine season

Not long after starting work in France I saw a board outside the café adjacent to our office advertising that “le bourru est arrivé”. 

I thought the café owners had bought themselves a donkey! 

I soon discovered that le bourru is, in fact, a mildly alcoholic and short-lived wine which is made and consumed between September and November, depending on how early or late the wine harvest is.

Our new neighbours, who were winemakers, brought some for us to try – and it is delicious, especially the rosé version, which appears later in the season after the red grapes have been harvested. 

It is best drunk in small quantities as the high acidity can give you an upset stomach. 

Bourru, also known as le bourret or bernache, is made almost immediately after the grapes have been picked. 

When winemakers start to make their wine the ‘must’ – or mix of grape juice, skins, flesh and pips – is put into a vat to begin fermentation. 

After as little as three days some of the lightly fermented juice is drawn from the vat (or “cuve” in French). This is bourru. Because it is so young and fresh it is slightly sparkling and has a very low alcohol content. 

The longer you keep it (preferably in a fridge to slow things down) the less effervescence it has and the higher the percentage of alcohol. It is, therefore, known as a “vin ephemeral” because it evolves so quickly and is available for such a small window of time.

Availability

If you want to try bourru this autumn you can ask a local winemaker if they have any, but it is also available in some bars and cafés and even in supermarkets (you will find it in a refrigerator, not a wine rack, and the bottles will be upright).

Because it effervesces it does not have a traditional cork, but rather a cap with holes in it, to release the gas. You must keep it upright or it will spill before you get it home. Keep it in the fridge and drink it soon.

The perfect product to pair with bourru is roast or grilled sweet chestnuts which, conveniently, are ready at about the same time. 

The sweet chestnut should not be confused with the horse chestnut. The latter is poisonous, causing severe stomach pains and vomiting. 

The two can look very similar – around 10% of cases where poisonous plants are mistaken for edible ones involve horse chestnuts. 

The best way to identify a chestnut is by examining its outer coat. A sweet chestnut shell is brown and covered in long bristly spines. The shell usually contains more than one sweet chestnut. 

The horse chestnut, or “conker”, is in a green shell with spikes, which are usually thicker and less dense. The trees are also different in appearance.

If you are unsure, ask someone you trust, do some thorough internet research or, better still, buy them in a local market.