Beaujolais Nouveau Day
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! Well, sort of, but likely not all of them due to perturbations de la chaîne d'approvisionnement. Beaujolais Nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region of France. And it’s the first wine released in the Northern Hemisphere, designed to be consumed shortly after bottling, which happens just weeks after harvest. According to Romain Teyteau, the export director at winemaker Georges Duboeuf:
The Beaujolais Nouveau tradition really found its legs in France in the 1950s and 60s, when distributors began to compete in a race to be the first to supply Beaujolais Nouveau to Paris bistros. It became so popular that people would gather in bars and restaurants waiting for the wine to be delivered.
In 1985, a French decree made the third Thursday in November (it today! unless you are reading this tomorrow!) the official release date for Nouveau. According to the Beaujolais Wine Council, the category accounts for 20% of Beaujolais vineyard production and over 16 million litres are consumed annually. These easy-to-drink, fresh and fruity wines represent the celebration of the first wine of the new 2021 vintage. “People came together to celebrate life and loved ones, and that is exactly what Beaujolais Nouveau is all about,” says Teyteau. And while the LCBO received some (👋 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2021), it’s expected that other shipments have been delayed #supplychain.
The Wines of Beaujolais are divided into three classifications: Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, and Beaujolais Crus. The first two are where Beaujolais Nouveau can be made, while the latter are the crème de la crème of Beaujolais, made in one of the ten official Cru appellations: St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. You can’t talk about traditional Gamay without mentioning winemakers like Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thevenet, Guy Breton, and Jean Foillard, who are known as the Gang of Four, and helped launch the natural wine movement in the 1970s. Toronto’s Grape Witches (from that billboard on Dundas Street!) are turning their shop into a pop up bistro tonight with “all the great Beaujolais from crushable bangers to all the geeky, fancy gems.” I can’t make it, but if I could have I would have worn this and drank this (made by Marcel Lapierre’s son Alex).
Go Canadian Gamay Go. And while Gamay is naturally linked to Beaujolais, it has emerged as one of Canada’s top red grapes worthy of championing. According to WineAlign, Gamay is “one of the most winter hardy vinifera, even more so than chardonnay or cabernet franc, and ideally suited to many parts of Canada.” Plantings in Ontario number over 400 acres, while British Columbia has less than 200 acres, and there are small amounts also grown in Quebec and Nova Scotia. Some of the Gamay award winning winemakers, from WineAlign’s 2021 National Wine Awards of Canada, include Ontario’s Malivoire (who are “thought to have the largest vineyard plantings and production of gamay outside of Beaujolais”) and Leaning Post, and BC’s Haywire and Deep Roots. A few other low-intervention Gamay options include those from Ontario’s Therianthropy, Rachis & Derma, and Southbrook; and BC’s Rigour and Whimsy, who are currently having a Gamay Day sale until Nov. 21 #Gamayzing.
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