Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! The New Beaujolais has arrived! In a rare display of marketing acumen, a practice normally scorned and reviled throughout French vineyards, the Beaujolais producers created not only an event but a tradition that has now permeated even the smallest wine shops around the world. What began as a local celebration of the yearly release is now a global phenomenon, with French decree that the release of Beaujolais Nouveau is to be no earlier than midnight on the third Thursday of November.

So at 12:01 a.m. November 17, 2005, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau began their journey to all corners of the world via Fedex, La Poste, Vespas, wheelbarrows, camels and any other mode of transportation imaginable. With over 120 million bottles produced, over half will be consumed almost immediately. And with the increasingly elaborate methods of wine production, it’s remarkable that barely a month earlier the wine was still encased in grapes. A quick harvest, swift fermentation and even faster bottling, badda-bing-badda-boom!, it is ready to ship on the third Thursday of every November! The Gamay grapes are pressed within a few days of picking, thus eliminating the astringent tannins normally attributed to red wines, so Beaujolais is much lighter, fruity and tres easy to drink. To me it tastes like Kool-Aid but then again my wine knowledge would fit in a thimble...so enjoy! Cheers!

Comments

[Jess (in Boston)]

oooh, i learned a hard lesson from le beaujolais nouveau!! When i was living in Paris I participated in the fete and then learned from my French roommate the next day (as i tried to keep the room from spinning and my stomach inside my body) that BN is just, well, plonk. and the fete is a marketing scheme (scam)? And drinking a whole bottle is a bad idea on an empty stomach. Or anytime, really. But I guess that can apply to many wines. ;)

(moderation . . . moderation . . .ohm . . .)

[Jess (in Boston)]

also -- how did NYC go? It's an event that I'd love to attend one day!

[Alicat]

I was just following up on an email I sent you a few days ago about a new web site that is going to be starting up. Just wondering if you had a chance to read it... Please give me a holler at [email protected] if you didn't receive it. Thanks! :)

~Alicat

[Chubby Hubby]

Totally agree. The BN is the most over-hyped, silliest wine event of every year. It's an awful wine and unfortunately has ruined the reputation of Beaujolais wines around the world.

[leconte]

is there any difference between Beaujolais NOUVEAU
and Beaujolais PRIMEUR?

[laura @ cucina testa rossa]

hi jess in boston -- yikes, sounds like me and a gallo-wine-in-a-box in college. i couldn't drink red wine for years... nyc was amazing, thanks for asking. the beard dinner was spectacular, the food mouthwatering and the chefs wonderful! try to get to any beard dinner in ny. it's a very special place and unique experience.

ciao chubbyhubby -- wholeheartedly agree. i've been told by experts that there are actually some very good ones out there but i have yet to experience them... it's still just kool-aid to me.

bonjour leconte -- there is... a wine released between its harvest and the following spring, is termed primeur. A wine released during the time between its own and the following years harvest, is termed nouveau so technically this is Beaujolais Primeur....but it's all about the marketing....

[peterb]

Well, laura, I tried one of the more prominent Beaujolais Nouveaus last night.

The summary: what an awful, terrible, horrible, no-good wine. (For the price).

Full report here: http://www.tgr.com/weblog/archives/000504.html

Enjoy.

-peterb

[laura @ cucina testa rossa]

hi peter - i feel your pain. it's kool-aid, i tell ya. but as a marketing person, i must tip my hat to the sheer marketing brilliance the French have shown here, something that is loathed in this neck of the woods and spoken about in hushed tones in the corners of dark smoky bars. it's the great american way (that is so scorned, but secretly envied here). take nothing and make it something, then market the hell out of it and overcharge. starbucks - $4.50 for a CUP OF COFFEE?!?! but as you said, you "took it for the team". consider it market research, R&D, and write it off on your taxes! maybe recoup a few of those 12 dollars ;-)