Beaujolais nouveau

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Beaujolais Nouveau

Region Burgundy
Appellation Beaujolais
Grape varieties Gamay
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Beaujolais nouveau 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
then officially released for sale on the third Thursday of November. This "Beaujolais
Day", or "Beaujolais Nouveau Day" sees heavy marketing from the producers, with races
to get the first bottles of the vintage to different markets.

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[edit] Style
Beaujolais Nouveau is a purple-pink wine that is particularly lightweight, even by the
standards of Beaujolais. The method of production means that there is very little tannin,
and the wine can be dominated by fruity, ester flavours of bananas and pear drops. These
are enhanced by the frequent recommendation to serve the wine lightly chilled, at
approximately 13°C (55°F).

Many wine critics criticize the wines marketed as Beaujolais Nouveau as simple or
immature. Wine critic Karen MacNeil has compared drinking Beaujolais Nouveau to
eating cookie dough.[1]

Beaujolais Nouveau is intended for immediate drinking, and in general should not be kept
for more than a year. On the other hand, it usually benefits from being left a few weeks to
recover from the effects of bottle-shock - and in the Northern Hemisphere the weather is
more suited to Beaujolais drinking in Spring than in the chill of November. However, this
rather misses the point of Beaujolais Nouveau's "immediacy", and patient drinkers can
buy standard Beaujolais AOC wines released the following year at lower prices without
the Nouveau hype. The wines show definite variation between vintages, at worst the
wines start to decline after Christmas, wines from a very good year might still be drinking
well 12 months later.

[edit] Production
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, but grapes from the
ten "cru" appellations are excluded. By law, all grapes in the region must be harvested by
hand. This is because Beaujolais is made using carbonic maceration, whole berry
fermentation which emphasizes fruit flavors without extracting bitter tannins from the
skins of the grapes. The wine is then pasteurized[citation needed] to preserve the 'fresh' taste of
the wine by preventing malolactic fermentation. The wine is ready to be drunk just 6-8
weeks after the harvest.
Around 49 million liters[citation needed] of Beaujolais Nouveau is 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.

[edit] History

Beaujolais Nouveaux by Duboeuf and Drouhin

Beaujolais had always made a vin de l'année to celebrate the end of the harvest, but until
after 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 13th
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.

[edit] Similar wines

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") and Spain ("vino nuevo").

[edit] See also

• List of Vins de Primeur

[edit] External links

• Intowine on Beaujolais Nouveau
• An article on Slate which explores the marketing hype associated with the wine.

[edit] References
1. ^ Karen MacNeil, The Wine Bible Workman Publishing Company, Inc. 2001, pg.
225