Thanksgiving wine

Beaujolais Nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region of France. The Nouveau release is always in November, regardless of the start of the harvest.  Not by accident, the French now release the wine exactly one week before Thanksgiving, so it's promoted as a drink for our holiday dinners. 

The region of Beaujolais has always made a vin de l'année to celebrate the end of the harvest, but until World War II it was only for local consumption.  When the rules were relaxed in 1951, selling Beaujolais Nouveau  became a way to move lots of vin ordinaire at a good profit within just weeks of the harvest.

The vintners came up with the idea of a race to Paris carrying the first bottles of the new vintage. This attracted a lot of media coverage, and by the 1970s the release had become a national event and spread to neighboring countries.

When we lived in England back then, lucky people traveled to France on special wine trips for the release. They quaffed down big quantities on the spot and then brought back as many bottles as they could.  The wild traditions continue to this day with gimmicks like "wine spas" popular with Japanese tourists.  Not on my bucket list.

No, thanks

It's kind of amazing that just weeks before this wine appears in American supermarkets, it was just clusters of grapes on a vine. This is a triumph of marketing, promotion and distribution, mostly due to the efforts of Georges Duboeuf, a tireless promoter of Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau.  The artsy label design changes each year, adding to the anticipation.  

In November John always buys me a bottle which I appreciate, more for the tradition. Don't get me wrong, this is an easy-to-drink, fruity wine.  It will never get any better in the bottle than it is right now. Which is a nice metaphor for Life.  Noveau is meant to be drunk young as a cheap and cheerful drink. I'm not especially young or cheap or cheerful these days, so where's the corkscrew?

Pairing the right wines with Thanksgiving dinner always gives the serious oenophile angst. I don't know why because we'll wash down all that turkey, dressing and yams with just about anything you put in front of us.  

When Amanda was young, we often went to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving, and I remember her delicious, old-fashioned dinners served with little glasses of White Zinfadel or "Chablis" out of a jug.  Let's raise some toasts this week to simpler, sweeter times.