Beaujolais Nouveau

Beaujolais nouveau is a wine of the Gamay variety produced in the Beaujolais (AOC) region of France that is authorized for immediate sale after fermentation. It is the most popular vin de primeur, a wine harvested in fall and sold before spring (much sooner than it could be produced through normal fermentation).

Young, Beaujolais should be served chilled, at approximately 13°C (55°F), to encourage its fruity complexion. The fuller Beaujolais, on the other hand, are best at about 17°C (60-65°F).

Beaujolais nouveau is produced by carbonic maceration followed by Pasteurization, a process which bypasses malolactic fermentation. The wine is ready to be drunk a scant six weeks after the harvest. On the third Thursday of November each year the new Beaujolais is officially released and just after midnight a race begins to ship the wine out all around the world as quickly as possible.

For a vintner the economic advantages of selling one's wine before the end of the year are substantial, although the wine itself varies dramatically in quality. Beaujolais nouveau is not a wine to keep; it must be rapidly consumed within a few months of its production. Some wine critics consider it to have an immature but enjoyable flavor not too different from unfermented grape juice, and Karen MacNeil, author of Workman Publishing's The Wine Bible, compares the experience of drinking Beaujolais Nouveau to eating cookie dough.

Around 45,000,000 litres of Beaujolais nouveau is produced each year, making up about a third of the region's total wine production. About half of this is exported, some of it as far as Asia. The commercial success of Beaujolais nouveau has lead to the development of similar primeur wines, first in other regions of France and later in other wine producing countries such as Italy (vino novello). In the United States, it is common for Beaujolais Nouveau to be drunk on Thanksgiving, since the holiday falls only a week after the year's production goes on sale.