Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Beaujolais Nouveau is a young red wine made with Gamay grapes that are handpicked in the Beaujolais area of France. The wine goes through a quick fermentation process, just a few weeks before the wine is released, known as whole-berry fermentation or carbonic maceration, which preserves the fruity and fresh flavor of the grapes but doesn't bring out the bitter tannins of the grape skins. There are 12 kinds, or appellations—formally appellations d'Origine contrôlée (AOC)—of Beaujolais wines, produced by about 4,000 vineyards in the Beaujolais area.

Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine of the season, made to be drunk right away, or at least by the following May for most vintages, although some can last until the next harvest. It is to be served chilled, which brings out its flavor. It's an affordable wine that is mass-marketed, although wine connoisseurs often look down on it. The labels on the bottles are known for their abstract and gaudy designs. Today it is exported to over 100 countries, with the biggest importers being Japan, Germany, and the United States. In the United States, it is promoted as a wine for Thanksgiving, which takes place a week after Beaujolais Nouveau Day, observed today.

Beaujolais Nouveau emerged in the late nineteenth century as a cheap and cheerful wine to celebrate the harvest season. It was usually consumed locally and was common in the bistros of Lyons. A few dozen vintners make it today, the best-known producer being Georges Duboeuf. Makers of the wine wanted to increase its sales in the 1950s, at a time when there wasn't much demand for it, and came up with a marketing campaign centered around races on the day it was released, Beaujolais Nouveau Day.

Races where new bottles of wine were brought to cafes and restaurants in Paris became a tradition. It became a national event in the 1970s after Georges Duboeuf himself expanded coverage of the event. As part of this, banners with the slogan "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!"—meaning "Beaujolais Nouveau is here" or "Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived"—were hung. Since 2005, the slogan has been "It’s Beaujolais Nouveau time!" In the 1980s, other European countries began organizing races; the races spread to North America, and then to Asia in the 1990s.

According to French law, made by the National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO) in 1985, Beaujolais Nouveau is released at 12:01 a.m. on the third Thursday in November. This day, Beaujolais Nouveau Day, is not only celebrated in France and beyond with races, but also with festivals with fireworks, music, and of course, the drinking of Beaujolais Nouveau.

About 120 Beaujolais Nouveau Day festivals are held in the Beaujolais region of France. The most famous is Les Sarmentelles, located in the town of Beaujeu, the capital of the former Beaujolais province. The five-day festival starts in the early evening the day before and is filled with wine tasting, dancing, live music, and local foods. There is also a wine tasting contest of the 12 kinds of Beaujolais wines, where the winner receives their weight in wine as a prize. At night, there is a torch-lit parade honoring the farmers who made the wine. Fireworks are shot off at midnight as Beaujolais Nouveau Day arrives, and the wine is drunk until dawn.

How to Observe Beaujolais Nouveau Day

• Pick up a bottle or two of Beaujolais Nouveau to enjoy.
• Attend a Beaujolais Nouveau Day festival or event in France, such as Les Sarmentelles, or look for a Beaujolais Nouveau event near you to attend.
• Read a book about Beaujolais Nouveau such as I'll Drink to That: Beaujolais and the French Peasant Who Made It the World's Most Popular Wine.
• Watch the 1978 French film Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrivé.

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