Young, smooth, and probably one of the best-marketed unpretentious wines out there – Beaujolais nouveau is back again and, whilst the grapes are new, the celebration certainly isn’t.

Wine cultivators around Lyon have been toasting Beaujolais Nouveau since the 1800s – celebrating the end of the harvest with a glass of red harvested only that year. Whilst most reds will benefit from a little more time in the bottle, this one does best without. The Lyonnaise specialty springs to life just a few months after being plucked from the vines – and so do the streets of France!

00:01 CET – Thursday 16^th November 2023 the race will begin once again, with transport of all forms lining up to spread the 2023 Beaujolais nouveau as soon as it is released. Millions of bottles sped to Paris and beyond, as they have done since the 1950s. The sheer velocity of this excitement can be traced back to the powerful yet questionable marketing strategy of George Duboeuf, a large-scale producer of the wine, coining the phrase “le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé” (the new Beaujolais has arrived). This has now been revamped in recent years to focus on the quality of the wine.

This has not always been the case, however. With such a short period in which the wine is drinkable, this produce of the Gamay grape was traditionally only enjoyed by the poorer few.

With banners, posters and campaigns heralding the race to the first sip of the year’s harvest – the marketing strategy championing the sprint to Paris transformed the pockets of Beaujolais sellers for generations to come.  Officially recognised by the Beaujolais regional government as the third Thursday of November in 1985, the wine is at its best for only a few months past this point. As such, this festival has become vital not just to French culture but for the sellers to which it provides much needed post-harvest income and an escape from thousands of undrinkable bottles.

Throughout the Beaujolais region, the festival traditionally consists of a 5- day celebration with an annual tasting contest, fireworks and music to pay homage to the end of the harvest season.

This campaign, snowballing in the global sphere is now celebrated extensively across the continents including in the USA, Wales and Japan – where people even bathe in it. So, whether you find yourself in France, Wales, or any of our other locations throughout Europe – treat yourself to a bottle of something Nouveau this November. We’ve heard it pairs rather beautifully with a private chef experience…

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