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Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!

19/11/2020 Winemaking

The New Beaujolais has arrived! It’s the most famous advertising claim in the wine world that refers to the most anticipated wine of the year: the fresh, fun and fruity Beaujolais Nouveau, the first and fastest vintage wine, which for some is a wonder, but for others is only a globally successful marketing strategy.

However, Beaujolais is not only a young and internationally famous wine. Next we’re going to learn a little more about Beaujolais wines and some of their appellations.

Where is Beaujolais?

The Beaujolais vineyards are strategically located south of Burgundy and a few kilometers from Lyon, between the northern half of the province of Rhône and the southern tip of the Saône and Loire. Along with Champagne, manual harvest is mandatory in Beaujolais. The most popular variety there is the Gamay grape (its full name is Gamay noir à jus blanc), which gives rise to young fruity and floral wines (the famous Beaujolais Nouveaux) but when it goes through aging it offers more spicy wines, with more body and with hints of cherries, black pepper and freshly cut stone.

What is Beaujolais Nouveau?

Its name already gives us some clues: Beaujolais refers to the French wine region it comes from and the word nouveau in French means “new”, that is to say, it’s the first and most popular French wine to be obtained from the current year’s harvest. A red wine from the Gamay variety, usually made under the carbonic maceration method, which consists of fermenting the grapes in whole bunches and without crushing so it’s the action of carbon dioxide itself (which is generated during fermentation) which breaks the skin of the grape from the inside of each grape, giving rise to a very fruity wine with pleasant tannins. In short, a young and fun wine whose release on the market coincides with the third Thursday in November.

How did the Beaujolais Nouveau boom originate in the world?

George Duboeufs, vigneron of Beaujolais, realized the potential of this pleasant and easy-to-drink wine and to boost its consumption at the beginning of the 1960s he created a contest to see who could get the first bottle to Paris quicker than anyone else. This race quickly spread throughout Europe reaching America and Asia in the 1980s and 1990s. Today the famous phrase Le beaujolais nouveau est arrivé! announces the arrival of this wine practice simultaneously to all the countries across the globe. Its success is such that a third of the wine production in Beaujolais is dedicated to the production of this young wine, which means around 35 million bottles are sold in 110 countries around the world.

What is a Beaujolais Nouveau wine like?

As we’ve already mentioned, its elaboration through carbonic maceration results in a wine low in tannins and high in acidity, with an important fruit load where aromas reminiscent of raspberries, blueberries, candied fruits, the grapes themselves, and a note which may remind you of banana or even chewing gum are displayed. Of course, it’s a wine which isn’t made to be stored for more than 12 months, so you have to open it soon and consume it young and, if possible, drink it fresh. Total madness!

Remember that these characteristics refer only to the “primeur wines”, that is, the so-called Beaujolais Nouveaux and Beaujolais Villages Nouveaux, which are the youngest wines from this French region.

The area doesn’t only live off Beaujolais Nouveau

The fame of the Beaujolais vineyards may be caused by their agreeable and fun young wines known worldwide, but luckily, their potential doesn’t only lie in the ceremony and festivity the arrival of each vintage of these “new wines” represents. In Beaujolais there are 12 designations of origin that contain 10 crus with different styles and personalities. You may be familiar with names such as Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Brouilly or Morgon, areas where high-quality aged wines are made, which have an aging potential that can reach up to 20 years.

At Decántalo, you have the option to choose a Beaujolais wine for every occasion. Enjoy the younger versions of the Gamay grape but don’t forget to give the great Beaujolais wines a chance, as they’re undoubtedly those most worth knowing and are certainly the ones which will surprise you the most.

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