Happy Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Image by Sergey Melkonov via FlickrIt is the third Thursday in November which can only mean one thing: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrivé!



This tradition is either highly anticipated or roundly condemned with supporters praising it as a window into the years potential and critics deriding it as a marketing ploy to rid themselves of cheap wine.  Well, I don't know anyone cheaper than me so let the fun begin.

Image via Wikipedia

The Nouveaus offer plenty to be excited about, fruity, young, easy-drinking wine at affordable prices.  What more do you want in a wine?  Some critics have suggested that Beaujolais Nouveau is like eating cookie dough.  Well, to them I say: I like cookie dough, and deep fried Mars bars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hot dogs.  What of it?  Not everything enjoyable in life has to come with a hefty price tag and a gilded box.  I think the tradition is fun and the wines are decent so why not?

As for this year's wines, they have received a lot of attention and many high praises.  I have picked up 3 bottles from  varying price ranges and will report in a future post about the taste.  But let's look a little at the tradition.



The Beaujolais region has always had an end of harvest vin de l'année that was only for local consumption.  After 1937 the newly established AOC pegged the release date at December 15th, the wine was still mainly a locally consumed product.  All this changed after 1951 when some of the local wine distributors came up with the idea of a race to get their bottles to Paris on the 15th of November and the race was expanded and the eventual date of the third Thursday of November settle upon in 1985.  Wine enthusiasts the world over have looked forward to the annual event ever since.

Beaujolais Nouveau are made from Gamay grapes which must be picked by hand and come from the Beaujolais AOC excluding the Cru appellations.  The wine is usually ready within 6-8 weeks of the harvest.  These light, fruity wines would be a good match with most foods including roast chicken, pork and, for those of you in the USA, thanksgiving turkey. The wine would also be a decent match with strong cheese.