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Beaujolais nouveau

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Beaujolais nouveau
AppellationBeaujolais
VarietalGamay

Beaujolais nouveau (/ˌboʊʒəˈleɪ nuːˈvoʊ/ BOH-zhə-LAY noo-VOH, French: [boʒɔlɛ nuvo]) is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is a vin de primeur, fermented just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November. Distributors compete to get the first bottles to different global markets.[1] In 2024, Beaujolais nouveau sold 14.3 million bottles worldwide, representing 22% of the total production of the Beaujolais vineyards.

History

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Vineyards in the Beaujolais wine region, located just south of Burgundy

As far back as the 1800s, Beaujolais growers would gather to celebrate the end of the harvest by toasting the vintage with some of the young wine produced that year (this is part of the French tradition of vin de primeur, or "early wines", released in the same year as harvest, which 55 appellations in France are allowed to produce). During this time, Lyonnais barkeepers and restaurateurs had been buying barrels of this new Beaujolais wine, pressed in September and ready to serve in November. The new wine was served via pitchers dipped into barrels. The barrels were sometimes transported simply by floating them down the Saône river.[2] Once the Beaujolais AOC was established in 1937, AOC rules meant that Beaujolais wine could only be officially sold after 15 December in the year of harvest.[3] These rules were relaxed in November 1951,[3] and the Union Interprofessionnelle des Vins du Beaujolais (Uivb) formally set 15 November as the release date for what would henceforth be known as Beaujolais nouveau. In 1985, the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO) established the third Thursday of November as a uniform release date for wine.

Some members of the UIVB saw the potential to market Beaujolais nouveau by capitalising on the vintage's rapid distribution, starting with a race to get the first bottles to Paris. In the 1960s, races from English clubs rewarded the drivers who returned the quickest with the most wine (sometimes resulting in spare tyres being left in Beaujolais).[4] There continued to be more media coverage. By the 1970s, it had become a national event. The races spread to neighbouring European countries in the 1980s, followed by North America, and in the 1990s to Asia.[3]

Until 1972, New York was the only US city to import Beaujolais nouveau. That year, Minneapolis became the second US city to import it; now, it is available in most US metropolitan areas and many large cities across the globe.[5]

The release date of Beaujolais nouveau was set in 1985.[6] Under French law, Beaujolais nouveau is released at 00:01 am on the third Thursday of November.[7]

Production

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The Gamay grape used to produce Beaujolais Nouveau

Beaujolais Nouveau is made from the Gamay noir à Jus blanc grape, better known simply as Gamay. The grapes come from the southern part of the Beaujolais AOC, grown in "stony, schistous soils"[8] just north of Lyon. Both Beaujolais Nouveau and Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau are produced; the latter comes from the ~ 30 non-cru villages in the northern part of the region, and grapes from the ten Beaujolais "cru" villages/appellations are excluded. Nouveau's production has ranged from 25% to almost 50% of Beaujolais's overall output. As of 2017, 2000 producers are making 27.5 million cases from 4,000 vineyards, with 40% exported from France.[9] There had been a trend away from Beaujolais-Village Nouveau; there is some indication that these wines are returning.[10]

By law, all grapes in the region must be harvested by hand. The wine is made using carbonic maceration,[8] whole berry anaerobic fermentation, which emphasises fruit flavours without extracting bitter tannins from the grape skins. Grapes are loaded and sealed into a large (on the order of 20,000-U.S.-gallon (76,000 L)) sealed container that is filled with carbon dioxide. Grapes gently crushed at the bottom of the container by their own weight start to ferment, emitting more CO2. All this carbon dioxide causes fermentation inside the uncrushed grapes (without access to oxygen, hence "anaerobic fermentation"). The resulting wine is fresh, fruity, and very low in tannins.

Part of the success of Beaujolais Nouveau is due to the Gamay grape – it can easily make this very straightforward wine, and make more complex wines. Most other red wine grapes would not easily make nouveau-style wines."[11]

The wine is marketed for drinking in November, only a few months after the grapes were on the vines, and the logistics of shipping so much wine quickly are a significant challenge. Means of transport have included: elephant, Concorde, balloon, rickshaw, helicopter, private jet, military jet, and Boeing 747. Multiple air shipping companies even have online articles about how they arrange the nouveau air shipments, and the announcement of when the nouveau may be released from the EU is an annual headline.[12][13]

In 2004, Japan was the leading importer of Beaujolais nouveau, purchasing 12.5 million bottles. Japan thus surpassed Germany, which imported 4.5 million bottles that year. By 2005, Beaujolais nouveau was sold in 150 countries.[14]

In 2024, 14.3 million bottles of Beaujolais nouveau were sold worldwide, including 9 million in France, representing 22% of the Beaujolais vineyards' total production.[15][16]

Celebration

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Evolution of Duboeuf nouveau labels over time

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 always falls exactly one week after the wine is released (on the fourth Thursday of November).

To celebrate Beaujolais Day, events are organised throughout the United Kingdom, including in Cardiff.[7] Beaujolais Day, or "Beaujolais Nouveau Day", is particularly popular in Swansea, Wales,[17] where people book tables in restaurants and bars for the day up to a year in advance.[18] Historian Peter Stead argues that its rise in popularity there can be traced to the city's No Sign Bar in the 1960s, which was then owned by former Wales rugby union captain Clem Thomas, who owned a house in Burgundy and could transport Beaujolais quickly and cheaply to south Wales, and suggests that it reflected Swansea's efforts to "gentrify and intellectualise itself" at the time. In 2015, it was estimated that Beaujolais Day contributed £5 million to the local economy.[19]

More recently, several bars across Swansea have launched special events to mark Beaujolais Day, including the Morgans Hotel, which sees more than 1,000 people through its doors each year for its locally renowned annual Beaujolais Day event.[20]

As of 2014, over 100 Beaujolais Nouveau-related festivals were held in the Beaujolais region. One such festival, Les Sarmentelles, was held in Beaujeu, the region's capital, and lasted for days. The winner of the annual tasting contest won their weight in wine.[21]

Many producers release the nouveau with a colourful or abstract design that changes each year, usually as an evolution of the previous year's design. Starting in 2017, one producer held a contest for its Beaujolais Nouveau label; by 2020, there were over 1,000 entries.[22] Duboeuf has silk ties made each year with their label's abstract design, and releases them through select wholesalers and distributors.[citation needed]

In addition to drinking Beaujolais Nouveau, its release also offers chefs an opportunity to cook with the wine. Due to its very young age and fermentation method, the foods prepared with nouveau tend to be a bit more purple than red. This is especially evident in coq au vin and poached pears, traditional dishes from Burgundy.[citation needed]

Style

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Beaujolais nouveau wine
Beaujolais nouveau wine

Beaujolais nouveau is a purple-pink wine reflecting its youth, bottled only 6–8 weeks after harvest. The method of production means that there is a higher acidity and very little tannin. Nouveau will have very bright, fresh, red fruit flavours, such as cherry, strawberry, and raspberry, along with fruity ester flavours of banana, grape, fig, and pear drop. The wine is recommended to be slightly chilled to 13 °C (55 °F). Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau tends to be a bit more purple, richer, and has more intense fruity flavours.

Beaujolais nouveau is intended for immediate drinking. It has been described as "wine of this vintage, fresh as the memory of harvest and raw as the experience of the year, unpolished by time, a reflection of the emotion of the moment".[23] In this same spirit, nouveau is intended to be consumed within a few months. While nouveau could be kept for a few years, there is no real reason to, as it does not improve with age (for comparison, standard Beaujolais AOC wines are released the following year and can be stored for one or more years before consuming). The nouveau wines show definite variation between vintages and, as such, are considered to be an early indicator of the quality of the year's regional wine harvest. Similar to non-nouveau wines, Beaujolais-Village Nouveau wines tend to be a bit richer and more flavorful.

For a period around the late 1990s, some wine critics criticised Beaujolais nouveau as simple or immature. For example, wine critic Karen MacNeil wrote that "Drinking it gives you the same kind of silly pleasure as eating cookie dough."[24] Another wine critic, Robert M. Parker, Jr., disagreed, calling those opinions "ludicrous" and describing the better vintages as "delicious, zesty, exuberant, fresh, vibrantly fruity" wines.[8] According to Julien Gobert, an oenologist who worked in the Bordeaux region, "It is a proper wine and it's not actually that easy to produce. It's quite a challenge getting it right."[21]

Similar wines

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The commercial success of Beaujolais nouveau led to the development of other "primeur" wines in different parts of France, such as the Gaillac AOC near Toulouse. These wines are typically released on the third Thursday of November, just as their counterparts in Beaujolais are. The practice has spread to other wine-producing countries such as Italy ("Vino Novello"), Spain ("vino joven"), the Czech Republic ("Svatomartinské víno") and the US ("nouveau wine").

In the United States, several vintners have produced Nouveau-style wines, using various grapes such as Gamay, Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Pinot noir, and even Riesling. There is also a movement in the US to make nouveau wines in homage to the French Glou-Glou wine movement and in homage to Beaujolais nouveau.[25] In Japan, B&H Lifes created a Nouveau wine for cats inspired by Beaujolais nouveau, which is popular in Japan. It is named Nyan Nyan Nouveau, or Meow Nouveau.[26][27][28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Parkinson, Justin (20 November 2014). "Is Beaujolais Nouveau making a comeback?". BBC News magazine.
  2. ^ "Beaujolais Nouveau: History Behind the Third Thursday in November" (Flash). IntoWine. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  3. ^ a b c "It's Beaujolais Nouveau Time!". Union Interprofessionnelle des Vins du Beaujolais. Archived from the original (Flash) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2007. Warning – plays music by default
  4. ^ "The Beaujolais Run" (Flash). Beaujolais Run. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive". Haskells. Archived from the original (Flash) on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  6. ^ Masclot, Thierry (15 November 2022). "Au-delà du Beaujolais, tour de France des vins nouveaux" [Beyond Beaujolais, a tour of France of wines nouveaux]. Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  7. ^ a b Carter, Ellie (21 November 2024). "Why is Beaujolais Day celebrated like Christmas Day in Swansea?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Parker, Robert M.; Rovani, Pierre-Antoine (2002). Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 414. ISBN 9780743229319.
  9. ^ "The Beaujolais Nouveau, a marketing question". Euronews IT. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Retailers Welcome Beaujolais Nouveau". MarketWatch. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  11. ^ Rudolph Chelminski, I'll Drink to That: Beaujolais Nouveau Gotham. 2007
  12. ^ "Beaujolais Nouveau day 10 facts about the wine". The Telegraph. Archived from the original (Flash) on 19 December 2000. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Beaujolais nouveau 2020 to be released earlier than normal" (Flash). Vitisphereh. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  14. ^ Cougard, Marie-Josée (10 November 2005). "Le Japon, premier importateur de beaujolais nouveau" [Japan, the leading importer of Beaujolais Nouveau]. Les Echos (in French). Archived from the original on 23 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  15. ^ Hullot-Guiot, Kim (20 November 2025). "Le beaujolais nouveau, enjeu de taille pour les vignerons qui rêvent d'en faire 'un temps fort comme la Saint-Patrick'" [Beaujolais Nouveau, high stakes for winemakers who dream of making it 'a highlight like St. Patrick's Day']. Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  16. ^ Varin, Thomas (2025). "Quel jour sort le Beaujolais nouveau 2025?" [What day will the 2025 Beaujolais nouveau be released?]. La Revue du vin de France (in French). Archived from the original on 9 October 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  17. ^ Morris, Steven; Topping, Alexandra (20 November 2025). "'It's fabulous': Swansea on cloud wine for Beaujolais Nouveau Day". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  18. ^ Rees, Mark; Bellis, Katie (20 November 2019). "Why Swansea goes mad for Beaujolais Day". Walesonline. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  19. ^ Prior, Neil (17 November 2016). "Why is Swansea leading a Beaujolais Day revival?". BBC. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  20. ^ https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/live-updates-beaujolais-day-returns-22199913#2701527
  21. ^ a b "Beaujolais nouveau celebrates 60th with vintage year". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  22. ^ "Winner of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau Artist Label Competition Revealed" (Flash). Wine Industry Advisor. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  23. ^ "We deserve 'nouveau' wine in 2020 – a vintage meant to be fun and drunk right away" (Flash). The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  24. ^ Karen MacNeil, The Wine Bible Workman Publishing Company, Inc. 2001, pg. 225
  25. ^ "American Winemakers embrace Beaujolais nouveau style young wine". QZ. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Nyan Nyan Nouveau, Red Wine For Cats From Japan". Laughingsquid.com. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  27. ^ "Nyan Nyan Nouveau, a special wine just for cats". Japanator. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  28. ^ "Wine for cats available for limited time from Japanese company". The Japan Daily Press. 16 October 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
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