If you’ve got grape expectations for today, you won’t be disappointed. The third Thursday in November – this year, that’s the 21st – is National Beaujolais Nouveau Day.
It’s also National Gingerbread Day, so run as fast as you can if you’re in the mood for eating a gingerbread man. But we’ve already done this back in June, so we’re popping our corks instead.
Turns out Beaujolais Nouveau Day is celebrated internationally and is a rather big deal. It’s even got its own website. It occurs on the third Thursday of November and is celebrated in France with fireworks, music, and festivals. Wow, who knew? At one minute past midnight, the newest batch of Beaujolais – a fresh and fruity red wine made from the Gamay grape in the Beaujolais region of France, and fermented for just a few weeks – is released to the public, per French law. Per French law. They take this stuff seriously! The wine was created about a century ago by locals as a “cheap and cheerful” way to celebrate the end of the harvest season. Up until 1951 the wine was only enjoyed locally, but that year a wine merchant named Georges Duboeuf came up with the idea of holding a race to Paris carrying bottles of the newest vintage wine. By the 1970s this had become a national event, and it spread to neighboring countries in Europe during the 80s and to North America and Asia in the 90s. Today the wine is enjoyed around the world, and the latest vintage is eagerly anticipated by many.
I happen to be pretty familiar with this wine, even though I prefer whites. My dad will sometimes have a bottle of Beaujolais on hand, and I don’t mind the flavors. We picked up a bottle from Trader Joe’s over the weekend, and it proved to be the perfect after work drink. Not bad at all for a red – fruity and light!
Related articles
- Soirée Beaujolais 2013: The Streets of Paris (atmmagazine.wordpress.com)
- Join in the Beaujolais Nouveau Revival! (denboerwines.wordpress.com)
- Beaujolais Nouveau Day in France – One Wild Celebration (friendseat.com)
- Beaujolais Nouveau Day!!!! (charlopedia.wordpress.com)
Eat My Words 
It’s a pretty wine.
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Pretty tasty, too. I wonder what our resident sommelier has to say about it. Remind me to ask him in a few weeks!
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