Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé…almost

There are certain things in life that work like clockwork giving our lives a sense of structure and stability. Events that allow us to measure the passing of time in our lives:  birthdays, anniversaries, holidays.  Those moments that we can look back on and discern just how far we have come in our lives or how far we need to go!  One more never-changing, always arriving at the same time every year event that allows one to give thanks for all that is great and good is the yearly arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau.

The third Thursday in November marks the arrival of the current years batch of Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine produced in the Beaujolais region of France.  Cafés, bars and bistros throughout France have been taking part in this yearly phenomenon of wine growers bringing in bottles of a very young, recently fermented wine to celebrate the grape’s harvest.  This wine, made from the Gamay grape, is light and fruity….incredibly non-pretentious.  Let’s just say when you have a wine that is only a few weeks old, you really can’t expect to much.  A bit of the wine snob coming out in me.

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 life 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 ignore its arrival 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.  Hmm….maybe I can get on this bandwagon.

The region is magnificent–the photo above illustrates just how idyllic it is.  And for future reference, a Beaujolais Nouveau should NOT be confused with other wines produced in this area which can be wonderful. This is a fun, light-hearted wine that gives the French something to raise their glasses to during the month of November. Like they need a reason…

Currently, there are thousands of bottles waiting to be shipped over to the US as we Americans have become huge consumer of this fall wine.  George Du Boeuf, the king of Beaujolais Noveau, is responsible for taking this wine to heights I am sure no one dreamed possible.  As we get closer to Thanksgiving, you will see this wine being sold those selling it will tell you it works nicely with turkey and all the trimmings.  Which it does.  If, however, you really like the people around your holiday table, you might want to have some backup.  Yes, I know, the wine snob is back.

Here is a short video of Monsieur Du Boeuf telling us a little bit about his wine.  À votre santé.

2008 Beaujolais Noveau

Photo credit:  alexH3o@flickr