Every year, on the same day, the Beaujolais Nouveau wine comes out all over the world. It’s the wine of the year, fresh from the vats. It hasn’t even had time to dry off with a towel. It comes from the Beaujolais region in the east of France. A wine to celebrate the end of the harvest, to celebrate and drink in the tone of a great wine festival. 50 million bottles in over 150 countries open Beaujolais Nouveau on the same day. The whole world toasting the wine of the same region at the same time.
Today we celebrate around Lisbon:
Tati
Comida Independente
Vino Vero
Black Sheep
Viagem das Horas
Flores da Pampa
Cave da Estrela
Sem
Liquid Love
A bit of history, while you’re still lucid:
In 1951, the Journal Officiel stipulated that French wines of controlled origin could only be marketed from December 15th of the year of the harvest. In every law there is an exception….therefore, this law has as an exception the appellation « Beaujolais nouveau ». mmmm….an exclusivity that made history. For 15 years the date was variable. From 1967, the launch of Beaujolais Nouveau was fixed for November 15th, and finally, from 1985, it was stipulated that the new wine festival would be held on the third Thursday of November. Thursday is a great day to start the weekend early. Initially, the celebration of Beaujolais was clearly associated with French-speaking communities. Since the 1980s, the practice has been internationalized, first with European countries, then becoming a practice in Australia and Asia in general. Currently, Japan leads the way in terms of consumption of Beaujolais Noveau on the international market. Today, more than 50 million bottles are shipped in just a few hours. From the small villages in the Beaujolais region where this tradition is celebrated every year, it has become a tradition for the global village.
What are the features of Beaujolais Nouveau?
Beaujolais is a wine made from the Gamay grape variety, an early variety that ripens quickly and produces small, extremely fruity grapes. Gamay was practically extinct in Burgundy to give precedence to Pinot Noir, but it’s great drunk as a wine fresh from the vats.
A traditional vinification called carbonic maceration, with the aim of bringing out the perfume of the fruit: the bunches are placed whole in the vats and then carbon dioxide is injected to remove all the oxygen. With the berry closed and intact, fermentation takes place intracellularly, usually giving off aromas of banana and candy. Considered a joke wine by aficionados, Beaujolais is effectively a wine with no pretensions to be kept or to win 100 Parker points. It’s a wine to celebrate and welcome the 2023 wine. It’s not for spending two hours sniffing it and noting down aromas of Swiss blueberry candy and Algerian Tlemcen flowers. It’s for toasting and drinking!!!!
But Beaujolais is not only about Nouveau!!!
Beaujolais has its crus, such as Morgon and Fleurie, fine wines with ageing capacity. All from exceptional producers in a natural line, showing that Beaujolais really is a great region.