Yes, today is the day. The liveliest wine day of the year.  As the website for Beaujolais Nouveau Day states:

Beaujolais Nouveau Day is marked in France on the third Thursday in November with fireworks, music and festivals. Under French law, the wine is released at 12:01 a.m., just weeks after the wine's grapes have been harvested. Parties are held throughout the country and further afield to celebrate the first wine of the season.

Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk young. Most vintages should be consumed by the following May after its release. However, in excellent vintages (such as 2000) the wine can live much longer and can be enjoyed until the next harvest rolls around..

This year's vintage is very fresh and fruity, not quite the body of last year's heftier wine, but bright and very fruit-forward, with some pepper and peach in the nose, and then a big boom of berries, strawberry and raspberry upfront, blackberry toward the back of the sip.

Here are some comparative tasting notes of nine different BNs from the folks at Wine Spectator, specifically Gillian Sciaretta:

JEAN BERERD & FILS Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau Domaine de la Madone 2016 Score: 87 | $13
This light-bodied red is creamy, with ripe layers of macerated cherry and pureed strawberry, edged by licorice drop and cocoa powder accents. Marjoram and plum aromas linger into the finish. 6,000 cases made.—G.S.

GEORGES DUBOEUF Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2016 Score: 86 | $13
Fresh blackberry, spice box and pomegranate aromas show savory undertones of pink peppercorn and herb. The juicy finish is highlighted by minerally details. 3,000 cases imported.—G.S.

JEAN-PAUL BRUN Beaujolais Nouveau Terres Dorées l'Ancien Vieilles Vignes 2016 Score: 85 | $15
A light-bodied red, with floral aromas giving way to juicy cherry, currant and raspberry fruit, backed by licorice snap, anise and cedar accents. Offers a clean, lightly tannic finish. 800 cases imported.—G.S.

JOSEPH DROUHIN Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 85 | $12
Juicy cherry and strawberry flavors burst through the creamy midpalate, with licorice drop and floral details giving expression to the finish. Light tannins. 5,000 cases imported.—G.S.

GEORGES DUBOEUF Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 85 | $12
This light-bodied red displays a creamy palate of cherry, pureed raspberry and marjoram flavors, with licorice snap and light smoke details lingering into the lightly chewy finish. 85,000 cases imported.—G.S.

DOMAINE ROCHETTE Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2016 Score: 85 | $10
A savory edge of grilled herb and fresh earth lines the boysenberry and cherry fruit. Ample sweet spice and zesty elements linger into the tangy, lightly grippy finish. 400 cases imported.—G.S.

PASCAL CHATELUS Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 84 | $9
Bright and fresh, with raspberry and strawberry flavors matched to creamy gumdrop and light spice details. Offers a zesty, clean finish. 415 cases imported.—G.S.

MOMMESSIN Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 84 | $13
Crushed raspberry and cherry notes are interwoven with pink peppercorn, anise and light herbal elements, accented by fresh earth undertones. Offers a modest, clean finish. 1,946 cases imported.—G.S.

PAUL DURDILLY Beaujolais Nouveau Les Grandes Coasses 2016 Score: 83 | $14
Aromatic and zesty, with tangy raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, backed by grilled herb and gumdrop details. Crisp finish. 7,000 cases imported.—G.S.

So get out there and grab some bottles, for early quaffing, but especially for Thanksgiving. You won't find a better wine match for all of the diverse flavors of Turkey Day than Beaujolais Nouveau.  

Cheers!  Let me know what you think of this year's BN!

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.