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Beaujolais Nouveau Has Arrived

Posted by Linnea Covington, November 20, 2008 at 6:00 PM

Every year on the third Thursday in November, corks pop at midnight in celebration of the arrival of the year's Beaujolais Nouveau, a light, fruity red wine from the Beaujolais region in France. While the wine's debut is a celebration for its home country, in the United States this wine symbolizes Thanksgiving. It's also cheap, easy to find, and very drinkable.

Gary Vaynerchuk, author of 101 Great Wines, described the wine as having, "Aromas of fresh rhubarb pie and little hints of black pepper." The flavor, he wrote, is, "Full of beautiful, complex fruit, with a slight soapy quality. It's like Mr. Bubbles meets Smucker's jam." Even with that slightly off putting description, Vaynerchuk actually loves Beaujolais Nouveau.

Besides the seasonal timing of the wine, Beaujolais Nouveau also proves unique because of two rules growers have to follow every year: It cannot be sold before the designated time and the Gamay grapes used must be hand-picked.

This year, drink your Beaujolais Nouveau with gratitude—many grape crops were lost this year due to wet weather in the region. The Associated Press reported that this year's crop was the smallest since 1975. So bring a bottle to your Thanksgiving feast and toast to joy of tasty wine and tradition.

Related: Serious Grape: Feeling Bullish About Beaujolais

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Tags: France, wine