Beaujolais Nouveau – a Thanksgiving Wine
Every year on the third Thursday of November the new vintage of Beaujolais, Beaujolais Nouveau, is released. The date is not coincidental; in fact it is set by French law passed in 1985 turning the release date into a traditional event. The Gamay grapes are handpicked in the Beaujolais region (part of Burgundy), after carbonic maceration (which ferments the whole grape without extracting the bitter tannins from the grape skin), pasteurized and bottled for the midnight release on the third Thursday of November which is a mere six weeks after the harvest. There is competition to see whose wine can reach the bars first. There are over 65 million bottles consumed of this young wine worldwide within several months.
Beaujolais Nouveau is a fruity, light, fresh wine with almost no tannins that is meant to be served chilled. It is frequently purple-pink in color. The dominant flavors are strawberry and raspberry. This wine is a favorite for Thanksgiving feasts because it pairs well with the traditional foods served on the holiday.
This year Georges Duboeuf, the largest maker of Beaujolais Nouveau, is releasing his first eco-friendly Beaujolais, 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau Special Cuvee, in 100% recyclable PET plastic bottles which has a 50% lower carbon footprint. Boisset, the second largest maker of Beaujolais Nouveau as well as Laboure-Roi, the third largest maker of Beaujolais Nouveau will both be releasing their wines in PET plastic bottles. In addition Laboure-Roi will be planting one tree in Mali, the seventh largest country in Africa and also one of the poorest, for each bottle of wine purchased in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme worldwide Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree campaign to help fight climate change and restore the earth’s ecosystems.
There are over 100 festivals honoring the release of the new wine in the Beaujolais region of France in the towns of Beaujeau, Tarare, Villefrance, Salle-en-Beaujolais and Lyon.
In the US there are events sponsored by the French-American Chamber of Commerce in:
Dallas
Houston
Atlanta
Chicago
Boston
Cleveland
Minneapolis
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Alliance Francaise sponsors Beaujolais Nouveau events in:
Charlotte
Hartford
Sacramento
Santa Rosa
Individual celebrations are being held:
In Pasadena, CA at Madeleine’s Restaurant. For details.
In Downtown LaGrange Illinois (Chicago area) the 6th Annual Nouveau Wine Tasting Celebration on Thursday November 20, 2008 from 6:00-8:00 PM benefitting Child Link
In Las Vegas, Nevada the Paris Casino Resort will partner with George Duboeuf for its 2nd Annual Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration on Thursday, November 20, 2008.
In Cleveland, Ohio, the highly rated Chez Francois Restaurant will be hosting its 17th Annual Beaujolais Nouveau celebration .
In Seattle, Washington the 16th Annual Beaujolais Nouveau Wine Gala and Benefit Auction.
In Portland, Oregon the 7th Annual Beaujolais Nouveau Fete and Wine Auction.
For our readers who live in England or France, check out The Beaujolais Run, started in 1972 when the Sunday Times journalist, Alan Hall, started the competition to “Bring Back the Beaujolais” to London. This annual race has become a navigational race by top automobile brands such as Jaguar, Porsche, Aston Martin, etc. using Satellite Navigation, laptops, maps starting in London with the focus of the race from Paris to Macon in the Burgundy region of France. The event is sponsored by Hackett classic British clothing and accessories brand. All money raised goes to charity through www.justgiving.com.
Although Beaujolais had always made a wine to celebrate the end of the harvest, prior to World War II the wine was produced only for local consumption. The professional wine growers of Beaujolais particularly Georges Duboeuf identified the marketing potential of establishing a race to get the first bottles of Beaujolais wine to Paris. The media coverage of the events was so successful that the race then spread to Europe in the 1980’s followed by North America and then in the 1990’s to Asia. In the United States the drink is promoted as a Thanksgiving wine because the release date coincides within a week of Thanksgiving. And the rest is history!
