A couple of years ago, our local wine club in Pittsburgh started celebrating Beaujolais Nouveau Day.
Beaujolais is a region in France which has found marketing gold in offering Beaujolais Nouveau – a wine in which Gamay grapes are picked, pressed, fermented, bottled, in a matter of weeks.
These bottles are rushed around the world to go on sale the third Thursday in November.
This light bodied red finds it’s way to us in the States just in time for Thanksgiving.
This Gamay is made to drink young, with the distinct aromas of….Bananas?!?!!
That sure is a fun aroma to search for when you try this one.
So, set Pandora to a French station, and open a bottle of the 2010.
Even though some say Beaujolais is only good for a year, others have attested to finding Beaujolais that has aged well up to three years or so. What’s nice, if this is true, most shops put their Beaujolais Nouveau on sale to make way for the new releases.
I have been so busy lately, no time for a full French menu in a happening location.
So, this year I am having members of the wine club over. Not enough room for everyone as we are remodeling.
SO, please pop open a bottle and leave a comment here about your experience.
One lucky commenter will win a gift certificate to use for wine gifts for the holidays.
Enjoy! Or should I say…
I actually smelled the bananas!
I leaned over the opened bottle to reach for a glass and had my first gentle whiff. Then after I poured and swirled it the aroma was quite noticeable.
My daughter laughed at how excited I was to try this new wine. What can I say…other than it was marvelous!
Way to go Mary! Glad you enjoyed your experience! Which one did you have?
Georges Duboeuf?
We had about 25 people over and nearly 32 bottles of various Beaujolais wines. The favorite seemed to be the 2009 Beaujolais Villages.
Now, don’t get me wrong, people enjoyed the Beaujolais Nouveau – in this case we nicknamed the George Duboeuf Nouveau wine the “Orange One” – it was the only bottle of Nouveau available in PA this year and we ended up with many bottles of it.
In NYC, I tried a 2004 B.N. – why? I have been repeating what others have said for years, BN does not age well. Others have been writing that it does, but after trying this 2004, and opening another of the same, just to see if it had gone bad, I think I will stick to the one year rule. I also tried a 2009 while there, but the “freshness”, the bananas, what I expect from a BN, it just wasnt there. More drinkable than the 2004, but not very exciting.
B.N. is not my favorite wine. I dont hate it, I just think it has a place. And that place is November – with an excuse to meet up with friends, and see the shocked expressions when people pick up the banana aromas.
One of my fave memories? Someone brought brownies with chocolate and peanut butter frosting, which she found researching on the web what to have with Beaujolais. They were so good! Admittedly not homemade, I thought it was extra special for the effort she put in.
And of course, the great conversation and games of “I never”, and the new friends we made. It was our first wine event in our new house, and I personally had a lot of fun. Thanks to all who came!