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By The Glass Roberto Viernes |
November is the
month to uncork
beaujolais nouveau
In the United States, November signifies the coming of the holidays, as we celebrate Thanksgiving. November is also celebrated in France, but for the coming of wine! No phenomenon in the wine world is quite like beaujolais nouveau (bo-jo-lay nu-vo). No other wine is more often celebrated with block parties, wine tastings and explosive sales.
Day 1 tasting
Indigo Eurasian Bistro marks the first day of release for beaujolais with its annual tasting, 6 p.m. tomorrow. Cost is $60, including French appetizers and entertainment. Call 521-2900.
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Federal Express expects to ship 630 tons of beaujolais nouveau 2004 to Japan alone! Northwest Airlines will ship almost 1 million pounds.
How did all this madness start? It was back in the day, before refrigeration and stainless-steel tanks. Few winemakers could afford to replace their barrels every year and cellars were not as clean as they are nowadays.
The quality of wine was found to be best right after fermentation. The longer the wine sat in the barrel, the worse it got. Even after it left the cellar, quite often wine would be carried around in horse-drawn carriages, exposed to sun, rain and the environment.
Basically, wine became more oxidized the longer it took people to sell and drink it. More people wanted to get their wine sooner. So merchants capitalized on this opportunity.
Beaujolais is the result -- a wine particularly enjoyable when young. It is made with only one grape, gamay, through a winemaking method called carbonic maceration. Beaujolais grapes must be completely hand-harvested, by law. The result is an extremely fruity, light red wine that is loved by many.
Georges Duboeuf is the recognized king of beaujolais, making seven of every 10 bottles sold in the world. His bottles are renowned for their beautiful floral labels.
The 2004 vintage "will be elegant, silky, full and fresh, with a tenderness and marvelous delicateness of a truly pleasurable wine," he says. "A wine full of charm and character."
Dubeouf makes the Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau ($12) and the Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ($13), which comes from specific villages and is considered superior.
This year brings another option -- this is the first year that the Damien Dupeuble Beaujolais Nouveau ($13) will be available. It is from a producer who uses completely natural methods, with no flavored yeasts and no artificial flavors. He also crops his vineyards so his yield is much lower than others, thus concentrating the flavors of the grapes even further. This producer makes much smaller quantities that are well worth seeking out.
Beaujolais nouveau is the quintessential bistro wine. It should always be bright, buoyant and fruity, smelling like strawberries and bubble gum -- some say almost like banana and pear, too. On the palate it is soft with very little tannin, with a juicy, almost sweet, fruit flavor. It's great to gulp down with simple sandwiches or a platter of salami and olives at lunch. It is also a great pairing with turkey and cranberries, which tie in well with the berry flavor of the gamay grape.
However you enjoy it, remember, beaujolais nouveau is a celebration of life. As my friend Bruce Neyers wrote me, "I've come to enjoy the nouveau beaujolais season for its annual rejuvenation of spirit, the thrill of a new year manifested in the form of a new wine."
May it rejuvenate you and your spirit over the holiday season. Cheers!