Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!

Thursday, November 18, 2010


Translation: "The new Beaujolais has arrived!"

In honor of Thanksgiving, I planned to do a little wine feature today on what to pair with your feast, but reader Trish diverted me to a somewhat similar but different subject: Beaujolais Nouveau.

Trish is from central West Virginia, not central France, but she learned about Beaujolais Nouveau from some co-workers. Beaujolais is a region of France – which is a historical province and wine-producing region.


The third Thursday of November (today) is “Beaujolais Day.” A big marketing and publicity campaign, Beaujolais Nouveau is encouraged to be consumed on Thanksgiving, since the holiday falls a week after the wine is released.


According to wikipedia, Beaujolais Nouveau is a purple-pink wine that is particularly lightweight and dominated by fruity, ester flavors of bananas, figs and pear drops. The wine is recommended to be served chilled.

Beaujolais Nouveau is intended for immediate drinking and should not be kept for more than a year. Because of its short shelf life, Beaujolais Nouveau is often criticized for being simple or immature - just like I like my wine (and how I typically get after drinking a lot of it)!

(Sources: wikipedia; Photo from some website)