You can’t be First but you can be Nouveau

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Beaujolais Nouveau Day approaches!

That’s right…here comes Beaujolais Nouveau release day (the third Thursday in November)—the day that wine snobs love to hate!

While Beaujolais Nouveau is often talked about, widely belittled, and perhaps seems a bit cliché, there is still a lot to learn (and appreciate) about this once-a-year, fresh-and-fruity, bright-cherry-red, chillable quaffer. As such, I offer five fast obscure facts about Beaujolais Nouveau:

#1—Beaujeu is party central: The Commune of Beaujeu is the place to be. There are over 120 Beaujolais Nouveau release parties held every year in the Beaujolais region. The best of these—Les Sarmentelles de Beaujeu—is a five-day festival held in Beaujeu, the historical capital (and namesake) of the Beaujolais region. The festivities of Les Sarmentelles include a Salon des Vin (Beaujolais wine-tasting extravaganza), induction of a new set of compagnons/compagnonnes into the Beaujolais Guild, an arts and crafts market, a gourmet market, banquets, lunch-time dances, concerts, torch-lit parades, and a tasting trail that takes you to all 12 areas of production. Rumor has it that the festival includes a Beaujolais wine tasting competition where the winner receives their weight in Beaujolais-Villages.

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#2—There’s more than one Gamay:  The famous Gamay Noir grape of Beaujolais fame has a red-fleshed country cousin known as Gamay Teinturier de Bouze. As one would expect from the use of the term “teinturier,” this grape has red juice and flesh (a rarity in the world of red wine grapes). Gamay Teinturier is believed to be either a mutation of Gamay Noir, or perhaps its offspring. Another grape—Gamay Teinturier de Chaudenay—is a mutation of Gamay Teinturier de Bouze;  both versions are allowed for use in the wines of the Beaujolais AOC as long as they are limited to a (combined) maximum of 10% of the final blend.

#3—Beaujolais Blanc need not apply: Beaujolais Nouveau may be the most famous wine of region, but several other styles of Beaujolais are produced as well. The best-of-the-bunch Beaujolais Crus may only be produced as red wines. The required assemblage of all ten Beaujolais Cru is as follows: a minimum of 85% Gamay, with an allowed 15% (combined) of Chardonnay, Aligoté, and/or Melon de Bourgogne. Beaujolais AOC (which includes those wines labeled as “Beaujolais-Villages AOC” as of 2011) may be produced in red or rosé (produced from a minimum of 85% Gamay with an allowed 15% [combined] Aligoté, Chardonnay, Melon de Bourgogne, Pinot Gris, and/or Pinot Noir) as well as white (100% Chardonnay). Only red or rosé wines, released under either the Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages AOC may be designed as nouveau—Beaujolais Blanc and Beaujolais Cru do not qualify.

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#4—There’s more than one Nouveau: In addition to Beaujolais, France has a list of about 50 wines that are allowed to be labeled as “Nouveau” and released on the third Thursday of November. These include those from the Anjou AOC, Muscadet AOC, and Mâcon-Villages AOC.

#5—You can’t be first but you can be next Nouveau: The nouveau wines of France are not the first wines of the harvest to be released in Europe. That title, it appears, goes to Italy and its rather long list of red wines—including Vittoria DOC, Rosso Piceno DOC, and Castel del Monte DOC—that are allowed to designated as “Rosso Novello” and released on October 30. Nouveau wine (in the Northern Hemisphere) can loosely be defined as wine that is allowed to be released in the same year in which it was harvested. Several European countries have their own versions of nouveau wine—including Portugal (Novo), Spain (Vendemia Inicial), and Austria (Heurige).

References/for more information:

• http://www.sarmentelles.com/en/
• Robinson, Jancis and Julia Harding: The Oxford Companion to Wine, 4th Edition. Oxford, 2015: The Oxford University Press.
• Robinson, Jancis, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz: Wine Grapes. New York, 2012: Harper Collins Publishers
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vins_de_primeur
• Cahier des Charges – AOC Beaujolais

The Bubbly Professor is “Miss Jane” Nickles of Austin, Texas… missjane@prodigy.net