Next week (November 20th) sees the release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau, the first vintage of 2014 from the Beaujolais region. If you think this is no big deal, think again – Beaujolais Nouveau Day is a wonderful time of fireworks, food, and festivals. And of course, the annual Beaujolais Run, which has in recent years, expanded to the US, Asia, and France’s neighboring countries.
Just a few weeks after the grape harvest ends, this fruity young wine, produced from hand-picked Gamay grapes, is released, heralded by the slogan, Le Beaujolais est arrivé! (the new Beaujolais has arrived!). However, in 2005, in English-speaking countries, this was changed to the somewhat dull, in our opinion, It’s Beaujolais Nouveau Time! In the US, the wine is marketed as a Thanksgiving beverage.
Historically, Beaujolais Nouveau began life as a local drink in the 19th century to celebrate the end of the wine harvest, and soon began to be supplied to local bistros and cafés, who would put up signs outside their establishments, proclaiming (yes, you guessed it), le Beaujolais est arrivé! By the 1960s, over half a million cases were being sold annually, and the wine was being enjoyed by wine lovers the world over. In 1985, the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (AOC) set the official Beaujolais Nouveau release day that we have now. Even when the wine is shipped in advance to stores, bars, and restaurants around the world, it cannot legally be opened or consumed until 12:01 am on the third Thursday in November.
The Beaujolais region covers around 300 square miles, and is home to almost 4,000 vineyards, which produce the 12 designated AOC Beaujolais wines. Of the 35 million-plus bottles of wine produced annually in the region, roughly a fifth is for the domestic market, while the rest is exported around the world.