The latest vintage of the Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived, as it always has, on the third Thursday in November. The date and time of release is set by time-honored tradition, at exactly 12:01 a.m. every year.
So serious are the Beaujolais producers and the French government on this point, that a fine has been imposed for anyone who defies the date and time edict.
Cars, trucks and even donkey carts line the Burgundian hills, attempting to be the first to bring the wine to the waiting cafes of Paris and Leon, and to the other cities around the world where there are gala parties waiting to usher in the new vintage. It is the most festive and important event of the wine year.
But why all the carrying on over a rather simple vintage? The answer to that is just as simple. The Beaujolais Nouveau heralds what the balance of the Burgundian harvest may be like. That is the official reason; the unofficial reason, it's a great excuse to party.
Around the world, festive parties are planned by wine lovers to usher in the year’s first vintage. Local restaurants host Beaujolais events for their patrons. Wine shops vie to be the first in their area to have the new wine on their shelves.
There are also galas, often gigantic affairs, usually held in the name of some worthy charity, built around welcoming the nouveau. At one such party, at exactly 12:01 a.m., a representative of Georges Duboeuf, the producer of some of the finest Beaujolais, descended from the sky in a hot air balloon. At another party, the wine was delivered by helicopter, and at still another party, the wine was brought in at the head of a 100-piece marching band.
The wine that is Beaujolais Nouveau is an exciting, bright, happy wine; a wine that must bring a smile to one's face.
This is not a sipping wine for quiet contemplation, nor is it a wine to accompany gourmet meals or putting away to age. It is a wine for drinking with friends in a happy, noisy environment and a wine to be consumed in great gulps with absolutely no formality.
In recent years, French wines have been a major disappointment, except among those who are more wine snobs than wine lovers.
Being somewhat "long in the tooth," we remember a better time for French wines. It was a time when the wines were produced by people who loved what they did and took immense pride in their product. It was a time when wine was love and not purely a business.
We suspect that as their wines began to bring in serious money, the winemakers improved their property as well as their equipment. They discarded the old, sometimes centuries old, equipment in favor of modern, gleaming stainless steel. It most certainly increased production and the results looked good, but it was done at an immense cost in quality and tradition.
A bright side of all of this gloom and doom is the latest George Duboeuf, the 2012 Beaujolais Nouveau, priced at $12.99. His 30th presentation of this wine, which is considered by many, us included, to be among the best of the Beaujolais Nouveau vintage.
The aroma of the wine is a riot of fresh summer fruit, which explodes into a melange of flavors that dance across the palate. Although it is a quickly made wine for early drinking, this vintage has something about it that few of the previous vintages had - character.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and helps manage ArticlesOnWine.com with his wife, Sheila. He can be reached at frojhe@suddenlink.net.
