| Beaujolais Nouveau | |
|---|---|
| Region | Burgundy |
| Appellation | Beaujolais |
| Grape varieties | Gamay |
Beaujolais nouveau (French pronunciation: [boʒɔlɛ nuvo]) is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is the most popular vin de primeur, fermented for just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November. This "Beaujolais Nouveau Day" sees heavy marketing, with races to get the first bottles to different markets around the globe.
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Beaujolais Nouveau is a purple-pink wine reflecting its youth, bottled only 6-8 weeks after harvest. The method of production means that there is very little tannin, and the wine can be dominated by such fruity ester flavours as banana, fig and pear drop. The wine is recommended to be slightly chilled to 13°C (55°F).
Beaujolais Nouveau is intended for immediate drinking and not for keeping; standard Beaujolais AOC wines are released the following year. The wines show definite variation between vintages, and as such are eagerly awaited as a first indicator of the quality of the year's regional wine harvest.
For a period around the late 90s some wine critics criticized Beaujolais Nouveau as simple or immature. The wine critic Karen MacNeil has compared drinking Beaujolais Nouveau with eating cookie dough.[1] This misses the point of drinking Beaujolais Nouveau, which is to enjoy the wine as early as possible while it is still fresh and fruity, or indeed, simple and immature.
Beaujolais Nouveau is made from the Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc grape, better known simply as Gamay. The grapes must come from the Beaujolais AOC, with those of the ten "cru" appellations excluded. By law, all grapes in the region must be harvested by hand, reflecting the practice of making with wine using carbonic maceration, whole berry fermentation which emphasizes fruit flavors without extracting bitter tannins from the grape skins. The wine is then pasteurized to prevent secondary malolactic fermentation and is ready to drink just 6–8 weeks after the harvest.
Around 49 million liters of Beaujolais Nouveau are produced each year, making up nearly half of the region's total wine production. About half of this is exported, with Germany and Japan the biggest markets, followed by the USA.
Beaujolais had always made a vin de l'année to celebrate the end of the harvest, but until WWII it was only for local consumption. In fact, once the Beaujolais AOC was established in 1937, AOC rules meant that Beaujolais wine could only be officially sold after the 15th December in the year of harvest.[2] These rules were relaxed on 13 November 1951,[2] and the Union Interprofessionnelle des Vins du Beaujolais (UIVB) formally set the 15 November as the release date for what would henceforth be known as Beaujolais Nouveau.
A few members of the UIVB, notably the négociant Georges Duboeuf, saw the potential for marketing Beaujolais Nouveau. Not only was it a way to clear lots of vin ordinaire at a good profit, but selling wine within weeks of the harvest was great for cash flow. Hence the idea was born of a race to Paris carrying the first bottles of the new vintage. This attracted a lot of media coverage, and by the 1970s had become a national event. The races spread to neighbouring countries in Europe in the 1980s, followed by North America, and in the 1990s to Asia.[2] In 1985, the date was changed to the third Thursday in November to take best advantage of marketing in the following weekend.
This "Beaujolais Day" is accompanied by publicity events and heavy advertising. The traditional slogan, even in English-speaking countries, was “Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!” (literally, "The new Beaujolais has arrived!"), but in 2005 this was changed to "It's Beaujolais Nouveau Time!". In the United States, it is promoted as a drink for Thanksgiving, which falls a week after the wine is released.
Duboeuf remains the biggest producer of Beaujolais Nouveau; unlike the "flower" labels of his other wines, his Nouveau features a colourful abstract design that changes every year. Duboeuf has silk ties made each year with the label's abstract design, and releases them through select wholesalers and distributors.
The commercial success of Beaujolais Nouveau led to the development of other "primeur" wines in other parts of France, such as the Gaillac AOC near Toulouse. These wines are typically released on the third Thursday of November, just like their counterparts in Beaujolais. The practice has spread to other wine producing countries such as Italy ("Vino Novello"), Spain ("vino nuevo") and the US ("nouveau wine")
In the Czech Republic, the wine of St. Martin is very famous. This young wine is traditionally uncorked on 11/11, at 11:00. It is made only from restricted grape varieties (Müller Thurgau, Saint Laurent, Blue Portugal etc.) and can be red, white or rosé.
In the US, there had been several producers of Nouveau-style wines, using various grapes including Gamay, Zinfandel and even Riesling. Beringer was California's largest Nouveau California producer, and included 3- liter bottles in its offerings; it stopped Nouveau production in the early 2000s. Across the US, many local and regional wineries release nouveau wines near November's third Thursday to be part of the Nouveau enthusiasm. In Serbia, particularly the region of Mt. Fruska Gora, the Mačkov podrum (The Tomcat's Cellar) winery is releasing its Blauer Portugieser on the third Thursday of November.
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