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As the French say: “Le Beaujolais est arrivé!”, which means “Beaujolais has arrived!”.
It is with this uncomplicated phrase that they welcome the new season of a simple, but at the same time insanely popular young wine all over the world. In honor of which they arrange a real holiday and celebrate it every year on the third Thursday of November.
What is Beaujolais Nouveau
Beaujolais Nouveau is a young wine made from Gamay grapes. The drink goes on sale exactly six weeks after harvest. These terms are regulated at the legislative level of France.
Beaujolais has a transparent red color and a very light, lively and somewhat pungent taste, which is set off by soft notes of cherries, raspberries and black currants. The wine is not meant to be stored for a long time and is usually consumed up to a maximum of March of the year following the harvest.
Sommeliers and true connoisseurs of this drink recommend serving it chilled to a temperature of 13 degrees. As an appetizer, meat or cheese cuts are perfect.
Today, about 45 million liters of wine are produced annually. Almost half is exported far beyond France. Big admirers of this young grape drink are the Japanese, Germans and Americans.
And the largest producers of Beaujolais Nouveau can rightly be considered:
Albert Bichot
Louis jadot
Jean-Paul Thevenet
Georges Duboeuf
Domaine Yvon Metras
Where and when is the Bujolais Nouveau
As mentioned earlier, Beaujolais Nouveau is produced in the east of France, in the province of the same name on the territory of historical Burgundy.
For the first time, Burgundy winemakers introduced their drink in the 8th century. And on September 1951, 15, France adopted a legislative act, according to which the wine of the current year in the country could be sold no earlier than December XNUMX. But the winemakers of Beaujolais asked to make an exception for them, and since that time, young wine from Beaujolais appears on sale in November, the third Thursday of the month.
The young wine reached its greatest popularity in the 1980s, but today interest in it is gradually declining, but still its connoisseurs continue to wait for the new season to enjoy its taste and aroma again.
Interesting fact! Beaujolais Nouveau appeared on the American market in 2005 and marketers developed a new advertising slogan – “It’s Beaujolais Nouveau Time!”, Which means “Beaujolais Nouveau Time!”.
Feast and tradition of Beaujolais
The main idea of the holiday is to drink a lot and have fun. In Burgundy, at exactly midnight in the main square of the city, everyone is loudly chanting “Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived!” and at 00.01 new wine sales begin.
And it is sold neither by glasses, nor by bottles, not by boxes, and not even by barrels, but by meters of Beaujolais. Bottles are placed in a row and if someone masters them, they get another bottle as a gift. Therefore, for most French people, the Friday following Beaujolais becomes a “non-working” Friday. This is a good reason not to come to work. And most often the celebration drags on until Sunday.
The beauty of this holiday lies in its simplicity and the absence of any preparations. Simple, fun, affordable – that’s all the traditions of the Beaujolais holiday.
By the way, in Russia they began to celebrate this holiday in 1999, and in Ukraine only a year later, but not on such a grand scale as the French do. Today, more than 200 countries of the world are under the rule of Beaujolais.
Relevance: 23.03.2018
Tags: wine and vermouth