Third Thursday of November
Nov. 21st, 2008 07:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanI have a confession to make: I don't like Beaujolais nouveau. Beaujolais, oui. Beaujolais nouveau, that fresh-off-the-vines spectacle of November, not so much.
There is, I hasten to add, absolutely nothing wrong with it. Gamay is a perfectly nice grape. The Beaujolais nouveau is a light, fruity, easy-to-quaff wine that a lot of people really enjoy drinking, and the idea of a low-priced wine that you drink immediately is one I support -- I've spent years trying to wean people off the idea that ALL wines should be shoved into a wine rack for a year or five of bottle aging, because -- no. Really.
That said, I spent years with other people extolling the joy and fun of the Third Thursday (when Beaujolais nouveau is released) and spent a year watching displays of the stuff race out of our store, and all the while wondering why I felt so out of step with the whole mad craze. Was I missing some essential understanding of the joys of simple wines? (nope). Was I really that much of a tanin snob? (probably). Did I just resist out of contrariness being part of a long-running fad? (there is that, yeah).
Which is a shame, because there are some nice Beaujolais nouveau out there (even this year, when the harvest was smaller than usual). If you're looking for an inexpensive bottle of something perfectly acceptable for casual/festive drinking, or have to load up on Thanksgiving reds without breaking the budget, Beaujolais nouveau will do ya. It can also make a pretty nice sangria. But not all Beaujolais nouveau is equal -- ask your store manager for recommendations -- and if s/he points you toward the Georges Duboeuf*, say "no, seriously. What do you recommend?"
*GDb is the Costco of Beaujolais nouveau. Some of his product is quite drinkable. IMO, you can find more interesting offerings at an equal price.
There is, I hasten to add, absolutely nothing wrong with it. Gamay is a perfectly nice grape. The Beaujolais nouveau is a light, fruity, easy-to-quaff wine that a lot of people really enjoy drinking, and the idea of a low-priced wine that you drink immediately is one I support -- I've spent years trying to wean people off the idea that ALL wines should be shoved into a wine rack for a year or five of bottle aging, because -- no. Really.
That said, I spent years with other people extolling the joy and fun of the Third Thursday (when Beaujolais nouveau is released) and spent a year watching displays of the stuff race out of our store, and all the while wondering why I felt so out of step with the whole mad craze. Was I missing some essential understanding of the joys of simple wines? (nope). Was I really that much of a tanin snob? (probably). Did I just resist out of contrariness being part of a long-running fad? (there is that, yeah).
Which is a shame, because there are some nice Beaujolais nouveau out there (even this year, when the harvest was smaller than usual). If you're looking for an inexpensive bottle of something perfectly acceptable for casual/festive drinking, or have to load up on Thanksgiving reds without breaking the budget, Beaujolais nouveau will do ya. It can also make a pretty nice sangria. But not all Beaujolais nouveau is equal -- ask your store manager for recommendations -- and if s/he points you toward the Georges Duboeuf*, say "no, seriously. What do you recommend?"
*GDb is the Costco of Beaujolais nouveau. Some of his product is quite drinkable. IMO, you can find more interesting offerings at an equal price.
