Today is being brought to you by the letter B and the letter B stands for Beaujolais Nouveau. Following the alphabet made it mandatory that I write about this upcoming event sooner than later as we won't see the letter B again until after hundreds of bottles of this stuff have been consumed. I felt it necessary for you to know what you'd be getting yourself involved in where this wine is concerned and thought you might want to be up on your French celebrations. If there is a party that can be had, by all means, let's have it!
The third Thursday in November--this year it falls on November 20, marks the arrival of this year's batch of Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine produced in the Beaujolais region of France. Cafés, bars and bistros throughout this area have been taking part in the local phenomenon of wine growers bringing barrels of a very young, recently fermented wine to town to celebrate the end of grape harvesting for years. This wine, made from Gamay grapes, is light, fruity...and well, let's just say, when you have a wine only a few weeks old, you really can't expect much. That's the wine snob coming out in me I know. Meant to be drunk young (or maybe not at all--seriously, I am trying to keep the snob at bay) the French use its arrival as another way to celebrate. And celebrate they do. Over 100 festivals exist throughout the specific region of Beaujolais and restaurants in Paris celebrate as they see fit. Some choose to have nothing to do with it whatsoever while others craft entire day long events dedicated to this gift from the harvest. Maybe it is a great excuse to get drunk and not have to explain yourself the next day!!
The region is magnificent--look just how idyllic it is. And for future reference, a Beaujolais Nouveau, should NOT be confused with other wines produced in this area. This is a fun, lighthearted wine that gives the French something fun to raise their glasses to during the month of November.
Currently, there are thousands of bottles waiting to be shipped over to the US as Americans have become a huge consumer of this fall wine. George Du Boeuf, the king of Beaujolais Nouveau, is responsible for taking this wine to heights I am sure no one dreamed of and probably loves America for making him a richer king. As we get closer to Thanksgiving, you will see his wine being sold and those selling it will tell you that it works nicely with turkey--which it probably would. If, however, you really like the people around your holiday table, you might want to have some back up. Yes, I know, the snob is back.
Here's a little video with Mr. DuBoeuf Jr. telling us about his wine.
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