Beaujolais Nouveau: History Behind the Third Thursday in November

by Brad Prescott

At one past midnight on the third Thursday of each November, from little villages and towns like Romanèche-Thorins, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a sleeping France to Paris for immediate shipment to all parts of the world. Banners proclaim the good news: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! "The New Beaujolais has arrived!" One of the most frivolous and animated rituals in the wine world has begun.

By the time it is over, over 65 million bottles, nearly half of the region's total annual production, will be distributed and drunk around the world. It has become a worldwide race to be the first to serve to this new wine of the harvest. In doing so, it has been carried by motorcycle, balloon, truck, helicopter, Concorde jet, elephant, runners and rickshaws to get it to its final destination. It is amazing to realize that just weeks before this wine was a cluster of grapes in a growers vineyard. But by an expeditious harvest, a rapid fermentation, and a speedy bottling, all is ready at the midnight hour. By French law, Beaujolais Nouveau is to be released no earlier than the third Thursday of November.

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Beaujolais Nouveau began as a local phenomenon in the local bars, cafes, and bistros of Beaujolais and Lyons. Each fall the new Beaujolais would arrive with much fanfare. In pitchers filled from the growers barrels, wine was drunk by an eager population. It was wine made fast to drink while the better Beaujolais was taking a more leisurely course. Eventually, the government stepped into regulate the sale of all this quickly transported, free-flowing wine.

In 1938 regulations and restrictions were put in place to restrict the where, when, and how of all this carrying on. After the war years, in 1951, these regulations were revoked by the region's governing body, the Union Interprofessional des Vins de Beaujolais (UIVB), and the Beaujolais Nouveau was officially recognized. The official release date was set for November 15th. Beaujolais Nouveau was officially born. By this time, what was just a local tradition had gained so much popularity that the news of it reached Paris. The race was born. It wasn't long thereafter that the word spilled out of France and around the world. In 1985, the date was again changed, this time to the third Thursday of November tying it to a weekend and making the celebration complete. But wherever the new Beaujolais went, importers had to agree not to sell it before midnight on the third Thursday of November.

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Comments

"It hasn't the pedigree to be a classic wine, but it is always good. Any other opinion you may regard as boorish and uninformed."

What a crock.

Try to have a sense of humor! I took that statement tongue in cheek. Personally I look forward to each year's release of Beaujolais Nouveau, even though I am an fan of heavier reds. I think it is a good pairing for our Thanksgiving turkey. To those who have not tried it, get to your local wine supplier early, as I have found that they often run out early.

For years I've enjoyed the occasion of the first release of the BN. OK, the wine itself isn't something you would necessarily but and drink during other times of the year, but it's unique style and the evolving tradition make it a fun event at this time of year. I've lived in France for the past three years and during that time the impact and excitement of the release of BN is tempered somewhat by the much earlier release of Primeur wines from various regions, both red and white. For 3 or 4 weeks already my local supermarkets (near Toulouse, Haute-Garonne) have been selling local Primeur wines, particularly from Gaillac, so when I finally taste the new BN it's not the first wine I've drunk from that same vintage.

Neil Jenkins

(Editorial note: In my message, please replace a "but" with "buy" and an "it's" with "its"! I really must re-read before pressing buttons like Send, Submit, Post, ... !)

A crock? - - you should try out your sense of humor, because that is how the "boorish and uninformed" comment was obviously meant. The writer is saying that Beaujolais isn't "serious wine," but it is fun and those whose judgment is on a hair trigger should back off.

Having lived in France for fifteen years in Avignon and Lyon, I drank a lot of Beaujolais Nouveau and Cote du Rhone Primeur. They're easy drinking wines, meant to be fun. No one confuses them with a fine Bordeaux or a Gigondas. In Avignon they used to have a big party with fireworks in front of the Palais du Pape for the Cote du Rhone Primeur.

Ok, so he deglected to put a ;) or :) at the end of his sentence--lighten up! This is all about a fun wine and a fun time !
jv

Oh, what a pleasant thought - drinking anything in front of the Palais du Pape, a place I have returned to again and again over the years. Once a charming, handsome dark-haired waiter brought my new husband and me a large plate of local (I presume) oily black olives (not in brine, but small like Nicoise) and we ate them for hours in the summer night, in those days with no effect on the waistline.

I did not know about Rhone en primeur. Thanks for the suggestion.

On Thanksgiving, I will serve Beaujolais nouveau -- which I never did before. I thought of a Gerwurtztraminer but the Duboeuf label caught my eye. The serious wine buffs disdain it, but since my family is a little less critical, it might be fun to have with appetizers, followed by a California chardonnay with the turkey.

Please do not be so quick to dismiss Georges Deboeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau at the Thanksgiving table! You'll be missing out on a treat if you do.

Beajoulais Nouveau is a horrible wine.