Leave it to the French to have one day per year dedicated to celebrating wine. The annual Beaujolais Nouveau does just that. On the third Thursday of November, wine lovers across the country impatiently wait for the new wines from the Beaujolais region to hit the market. The wine is released just weeks after it has been harvested and at 12:01 a.m. on that third Thursday, it is ready to be enjoyed in bars and restaurants across the country with a tapas-style accompaniment.
The most well-known Beaujolais producer is perhaps Georges Duboeuf, who is responsible for much of the marketing of the Beaujolais Nouveau event. However, there are around 4,000 vineyards who harvest the red wine, with the Beaujolais region located just north of Lyon, in the east of the country. While technically part of the Burgundy wine region, the climate there is closer to the nearby Rhône administrative department, offering Beaujolais its uniquely fresh flavor.
While celebrating the Beaujolais Nouveau event has become something of a tradition in France, the wine itself is not considered by connoisseurs to be the top of the crop. The wine, cherry red, fruity and served chilled, is harvested following a fast fermentation process. It is drunk quickly after that, to celebrate the end of the season. But as any wine snob knows, the most high quality wines are worth the wait – i.e., one isn’t supposed to drink wine from the current year.
Thus creates the ever-present polemic in France over Beaujolais. Many will scoff over the event, turning up their nose at the “unsophisticated” flavor, while others marvel at the freshness of the Gamay grape’s low tannin count. The only way for you to know if you like Beaujolais is to, of course, taste it for yourself.
Whatever your thoughts on grape harvesting, if you happen to be in Paris during Beaujolais Nouveau, then you simply have to get in on the fun. Here is a sampling of places that will be hosting festivities on November 21st of this year. So grab a friend and clink your glass to the year’s new red.
Le Bistrot des Halles
15, rue des Halles, 75001
Le Bougainville
5 rue de la Banque, 75002
Le Barricou
1 boulevard du Temple, 75003
Ma Bourgogne
19 place des Vosges, 75004
Café Comptoir Tournon
18 rue Tournon, 75006
Bistrot à Vins
42 rue Léon Frot, 75011
La Bergeri
21 rue de Galilée, 75016
Le Colibri
35 rue Veron, 75018
