| November 19, 2009 |
Beaujolais Nouveau label
Beaujolais Nouveau day arrives this year on Thursday 19 November 2009 – i.e. the third Thursday of November. No longer the huge media event it once was, there remains much enthusiasm for it in France, and to a lesser extent in the UK.
Beaujolais Nouveau can be a bit thin and sharp – it is after all a new (young) wine – and the Gamay grape tends to be appreciated for its fresh, light, jammy flavours – although some of the Cru Beaujolais (i.e named after one of the Cru villages such as Fleurie, Brouilly, Moulin à Vent etc) can produce wines of impressive depth and complexity.
It is usually worth steering clear of the supermarkets if you are looking for good Beaujolais Nouveau – try a specialist such as Nick Dobson Wines. His 2009 vintage report says:
Good start, warm summer, below average rainfall. The yield in 2009 is likely to be well below average due to dry conditions. The harvest started early, during the last week in August in the southof the region, later further north. Producers are making comparisons with the 2005 vintage, which was probably the best in the last 5 years.
M. Lacondemine goes futher and describes 2009 as an exceptional year.
For more see www.nickdobsonwines.co.uk
I like to have a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau on the release date, or soon afterwards. Why can I not find a list of stockists on the internet?
I suspect that this is because Nouveau is not as popular as once it was -and other than the supermarkets the wine is only imported in small quantities – but it does look like the Beaujolais wine producers may be missing a marketing opportunity here
Not even the supermarkets can be relied on to stock it any more. I have not seen any in my local Tescos, and I doubt many will have it. M&S and Waitrose might – they did last year.