In other words: " The New Beajolais has arrived!"
Today is the day that France releases its new Beaujolais wine for the year. The tradition is that Beaujolais Nouveau is released each year on the third Thursday of November.
While this young wine is usually nothing special, because it is pretty much grape juice, with virtually no aging, it gets a lot of publicity.It's pretty pricey too...I just bought mine from Kermit Lynch in Berkeley for $14.99 a bottle. I will drink some tonight and open a second bottle with my Thanksgiving dinner. The Nouveau is a wonderful wine with turkey.
One thing to remember when drinking the Nouveau...it is about the only red wine that should be drunk chilled...give it a few hours in the refrigerator before serving.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, many restaurants and wine shops have special meals and tastings based on the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. They have kegs of the new wine flown in directly from France...it is put on an airplane in France right after midnight on the third Thursday in November and usually is ready for eager Nouveau fans in the United States to taste by noon. I expect other parts of our country have similar celebrations.
This morning's news described it as having a lot of raspberry taste.
I choose Kermit Lynch for my Nouveau and for many of my French and Italian wines because he is the most reliable and honest wine importer that I know. He and is staff personally visit the vineyards from which they import. He does his own shipping to assure that the wines taste as good when they arrive at his shop in Berkeley as they did when he tasted them at the winery. Many of his wines come from very small family-run vineyards.
His monthly newsletter is so well written that I feel like I was with him while he selected the wines being discussed. His newsletters always make me want to jump in the car and drive to Berkeley to buy the wines he describes...I am never disappointed.
Kermit Lynch's Beaujolais Nouveau is available, while it lasts, at several Northern California wine shops, including some in Davis, Sacramento, and Tahoe City.
All the wine stores that are selling Kermit Lynch's Nouveau are listed in the current Kermit Lynch newsletter which you can download from the store's web site. I suggest calling before heading out to buy some...it sells out quickly. Jackson's Wine and Spirits, near me in Lafayette, had about 120 bottles to start and I will guess that they will be gone by the end of today.
In a few days, if not today, you will be able to find other bottlings of the Nouveau at such places at Cost Plus, Trader Joe's, and probably your local Safeway. It's fun to buy several different bottlings and open them all a once for a comparative tasting. One of the most popular bottling usually comes from Georges DuBoeuf, whose specialty wine is Beaujolais, new and older ones. His Nouveau is usually priced at about $10 a bottle. This link will take you to a web site where you can locate a Nouveau event near you; it includes a lot of fun facts and tips about the Nouveau too.
Some American winemakers also have Beaujolais Nouveau offerings. All the more to sample!
A votre santé!
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