The Day IS Here: Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrive'!!

I love this day. But after several years of my hyperbole on the matter, you should know what I'm excited about. And from everything I've been reading so far, this year's edition of Nouveau should be epic.

The folks at Sherry-Lehmann, NYC's preeminent purveyor of the Georges Debeouf version of Nouveau have posted this review from Debeouf himself:

“The 2015 vintage is going to be one of the all-time greats. The colour is a beautiful red with tones of purple and deep garnet. As for the nose, it offers a magnificent array of forest fruits: blackcurrant, blackberry and blueberry. On the palate, these are round, savoury, rich, full-bodied, unctuous and silky wines. Even better, they offer a truly exceptional persistence in the mouth. What a wealth of delightful flavours! The quality of this vintage is unprecedented. We are exploring heights which we’ve never seen before. You know that every vintage has its own history, and we know that 2015 will be breath-taking. What pleasure awaits the drinker!” -Georges Duboeuf"


So, as you might expect, I am very excited to try some. I will report back as soon as I do.  I'd also be interested in hearing YOUR take on the wine this year, and how many different bottlers you've been able to find.

A votre sante'!

EST ARRIVE!

And I thought the day would never arrive.

Today, the 3rd Thursday of November, is traditionally "Beaujolais Nouveau  Day", when the fresh pressed juice of the Gamay grape is rushed into bottles and shipped from Beaujolais around the world to celebrate this year's harvest and to portend the quality of the traditionally aged and bottled Beaujolais yet to come.

I will report back here as soon as I've secured a few bottlings to sample. I'll be roasting  a turkey tonight for dinner, and making some of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes to go alongside, to test this year's Nouveau's legs in advance of next week's big food orgy. So check back here later today and tonight.

And now that the dust has settled after the evening meal, let me tell you about this year's Nouveau. First of all, buy it. It's going to be a good year for Beaujolais. Lots of strawberry and blueberry in the nose, and some of that green vineyard aroma that makes you think of a walk in the vineyard. I personally love that about Nouveau, that you taste the entire cycle of the wine from earth to vine to grape to drink. So few wines ever give you that gift, unless you get to visit a winery and taste a new wine from the siphon.

But the drink is what is so  worth it this year: blackberries, wild blackberries right up front in that first sip, wild Oregon blackberries like the ones I found alongside the highways outside of Portland, big blasts of juice. Then nice, round jammy grapes, nicely sweet with a little tang. The wine bounced nicely off my herb-roasted turkey,  nicely counterpointing the sage and marjoram pepper, salt and oregano that I rubbed all over the turkey. Married well with the oniony, celery stuffing I made as well.  A nice finishing dryness to this year's Nouveau, too, cutting nicely through the buttery mashed potatoes and gravy.

Sipping a glass now, after dinner, this year's  wine has enough to pair with a nibble of  cheese, maybe a medium to sharp cheddar, nothing complicated.. But you will definitely be able to enjoy this wine on its own, long after you've basked in the compliments for pouring it at Thanksgiving. It's that good.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau.....

......est arrive!  One of my favorite days of the year, simply for the sheer fun of it, when this sprightly wine is released just in time for Thanksgiving (and Hannukah too!), and just in time for some leisurely quaffing.

And again, the reason I am so fond of this wine is that is allows the drinker, I think, to taste the entire cycle of wine making: the earth, the vine, the leaf, the grape, the juice and all the flowers and berries and fruit from nearby fields. It is quite an exciting whirlwind of smells and tastes in just a few sips.

And the wine flat out goes with anything you might eat, from cheeses to veggies and fruit, fish, fowl and meats, pastas,  even dessert.  Versatility is the key word here.  This year's  vintage explodes with strawberry and raspberry and even some apple in the nose, and smacks your mouth with black cherry and raspberry, more of that apple taste, more than in previous years, and even a little citrus, while still holding onto the earthy, slightly vegetal tastes that remind you of the vineyards from where the grape (Gamay) came. Swirl your first sips of this year's Nouveau  and you will feel it all, a remarkable experience, actually.

The Nouveau will really show its stuff with holiday dinners, though,  because it is able to straddle all of the diverse flavors of a holiday meal, from Hannukah latkes to cranberry relish, herbal stuffing, butttery potatoes candied yams and roast turkey, even (gasp) green bean casserole.  I happen to think it goes pretty well with pecan pie, too, if that is part of your holiday dessert selections. It will also hold its own with pumpkin and sweet potato pie and chocolate desserts.

So, kick back and enjoy this year's  Nouveau. It's shockingly inexpensive ($8.09 at my local Joe Canal's store in Lawrenceville) and fun to drink!

Cheers!

This year's Beaujolais Nouveau

I've gotta say that this year's Beaujolais Nouveau ( released in stores November 20) is really terrific, perfect for Thanksgiving and casual drinking. The earth, the vine and the grape all in one glass, with a depth I have rarely tasted in BNs over the last few years. Grape-jammy as always, but with layers of blackberry, raspberry and strawberry, but without any of the sticky sweetness that plagues this wine in some years. The last really great tasting BN for me was back in 2002, but this year's version has some complexity to it, and that bodes well for the Beaujolais that will be arriving on shelves next year. This year I've tasted Georges Debouef's version as well as Vincent Lecondomine's and Laboure Roi 's; any of them will be a fantastic wine to drink with your turkey (or whatever you call your significant other), and with all the leftovers, too. This is a great year for the stuff!