Beaujolais Nouveau

Ho Ho Ho, for some of you the holiday season starts on Thanksgiving, for others on Black Friday and for some of you who just can’t wait, on Halloween.  However, for all of us winos, both amateur and professional, the holiday season officially starts on the third Thursday of November.  Why?  That’s when Georges DuBoeuf releases Beaujolais Nouveau into the wild.  Made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France, this young wine, merely months old, is meant to be consumed immediately.  If you hold it. It won’t last much past May.  So set aside the egg nog and celebrate the holidays with Beaujolais Nouveau.

This light weight wine is a deep purple haze in color with a pleasant nose reminiscent of black cherries.  Since it is produced using carbonic maceration, whole berry fermentation which emphasizes fruit flavors without extracting bitter tannins from the skin, it is light and pleasant on the palate.  Depending on how active your imagination is, you can taste ester flavors of banana, cherry and pear.

Wine snobs consider this beautiful Beaujolais as simple and immature and if you’re crazy enough to listen to that crap you’ll end up spending the holidays choking on stuffy Cabernets.  There’s a time and place for all wine and the holidays is the time for Beaujolais Nouveau, especially this 2009 vintage which is being hailed as the best in 50 years.  Merry Christmas!!

George Brozowski