The release of the new wine from Beaujolais each November used to be a much bigger deal than it is now! For a number of years, beginning in 1951, the current vintage would be held at the winery until the third Thursday in November, and then shipped to Paris and other cities in Europe. It became trendy to send some by air freight to the US so that Americans could have it quickly, but demand was often higher than this method could handle.
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| In the 1980s, Beaujolais Nouveau really became popular in the US. Recently, the wine of this region has been less popular, but it’s coming back. |
By 2010, the rules changed. Since that time the newly-bottled wine has been shipped by sea to the US early in the month, but held by the wholesalers until the legal release date, this year Thursday, November 16. There’s still a lot of excitement about Beaujolais Nouveau, and the various shippers (especially our favorite Georges Duboeuf) create beautiful labels special to each year. We always enjoy drinking this iconic wine, which has such a short lifetime.
According to the Wine Spectator:
The 2023 harvest began, as is usual, on Sept. 1, following a difficult August that brought a heat wave, then hail damage in spots, then more heat that damaged younger vines and those planted at lower elevations. The temperatures put harvest on a rapid timeline, giving growers a sense of urgency to get the Gamay grapes off the vines to avoid excessive ripening. The resulting wines do have a bit more heft than the average Nouveau. ...
Wine lovers thirsty for fresh Nouveau to pour during their Thanksgiving feasts have it right: These wines are food-friendly and best enjoyed within a few months, so buy and drink now.
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| At our local wine store — the 2023 vintage. |
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| Beaujolais Publicity: Idyllic image of the vineyards in summer. |
Blog post © 2023 mae sander
Shared with Elizabeth’s blog party.
17 comments:
So did you enjoy this 20223 vintage? Love the photo of the vineyards.
Have a great day and happy week ahead.
Thank you for this lesson in wine! Aloha!
I love that Art Nouveau poster at the top.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
I have heard of this wine!
I don't know if I ever tried Beaujolais. I've had heard of it, but perhaps since it needs to be drunk so quickly, it's why I am not familiar with it. Thanks for the info. Have a great T day, Thanksgiving and week ahead. hugs-Erika
What an amazing wine you have given us. I thought wine should be aged, so was surprised that this particular brand should be drunk right away. So glad yto see you purchased a bottle. I suspect you will finish it off by Thanksgiving. Thanks for the wine lesson and the wonderful bottle you shared with us for T this Tuesday, dear Mae.
I admit we use wine for cooking only (goulash mostly, hmmmm, yum(.
But when in Italy/Tuscany we really tasted wine and bought a bottle.
The man "selling" it was 90+ years old, Nonno Duilo, he was called, such a sweet man. A family business in the country.
And, for some "sick" reason we have a bottle holder made by Australian Aborigines.
It still holds the by now empty bottle from Nonno...
I'd better get on the stick and get some soon or it won't be nouveau anymore!
How interesting, love the label on the bottle. Hope it tasted good. Happy T Day! Elle xx
The variety of marketing techniques and images is amazing. It's all art, so even thought I'm not a wine drinker, I appreciate the design involved in creating labels and advertising. Brilliant post!
Dianne
I miss having a glass of wine these days, but I mustn't drink alcohol. But there's still coffee....hugs, Valerie
Color me ignorant on wine. It goes bad here before I can finish a bottle, so I've quit buying it *sigh*
Happy T Tuesday!
No alcohol for us... But then we've never liked wine or beer.. Thank you for the wonderful informative post.. Happy T day! Hugs! deb
This is a very interesting post. I had no idea. I love reading a bit of history about wines and food. Thank you. Have a very nice day today.
We used to drink Beaujolais when we were still living in Europe, but since living in the US we have stopped drinking wine from Europe since it simply doesn't taste like in Europe. It sounds weird, but this is something I notice over and over again. I do think wine tastes the best in the region where it is grown - even in Germany the wine we brought from France or Italy tasted different back home in Germany than in its original region where we drank it first. So if we want something close to Beaujolais now we usually have a Pinot Noir from our region. Have a happy Thanksgiving, Mae!
When I grew up in the 50s and 60s my parents didn't drink a lot of wine, but they did have a bottle of Beaujolais when it came out. I remember the name from my childhood. I must admit I myself never bothered. Perhaps I should try it this year.
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
I knew very little about Beaujolais so I really enjoyed reading this. I've never tried it, but thanks to my medication I probably never will! Happy T Day, Chrisx
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