Beaujolais Nouveau – Marketing Scheme or Glass full of Intrigue?

I don’t usually feel any strong connections between particular bottles of wine and special memories or emotional bonds. Of course, there was that one time my grandfather brought a bottle of Great White to Christmas dinner.

That’s a story for another day, though.

But, this wine brings back memories when my father would go out west to work, and my mother and I would be alone for four weeks at a time. Once, she had visited a naturopath for a small health issue, and the woman told her to cut out most acidic foods, sweets, and basically anything good. The naturopath did mention that wine with dinner could help – and because of her healthy/earthy diet, a Beaujolais was recommended to us.

It was the best treat to come home to after classes or work. We would look forward to it all day, and laugh at how bourgeois we had become while my poor father was out freezing in an oil patch. (Sorry, dad. Thanks for the tuition money!)

*The Duboeuf Beaujolais Villages is the wine in* *my mother and I* *enjoyed with* *our meal. It’s a great wine for the $16.99 price tag!*

I’m a little bit late with this selection; however, I wanted to write about this wine considering it’s November. Every year on the third Thursday in November at midnight, Beaujolais Nouveau can be found on store shelves. Beaujolais Nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. Since it’s bottled only 6-8 weeks after production, its youthful complexion exhibits a purple-pink hue. Due to the way it is produced, there are very little tannins, and the wine can be dominated by fruitier flavours like banana, grape, strawberry, fig, and pear.

The part that I find almost as interesting is the marketing genius who developed this idea. “Hey Étienne, the Beaujolais is falling behind in sales since World War II.” “You’re right, Phillipe. Let’s market it as a Must Have with American Thanksgiving.” *High Five*

I won’t get into the other details about how the wineries in France started to suffer due to its November popularity. You can read more about that here (https://winefornormalpeople.com/wine-for-normal-people-audio-blog-11-beaujolais-cru/)

*Found at The Bishop’s Cellar for roughly $30. (It was clearly payday.)*

I’m planning to pair this tonight with some Lebanese food, to enhance its earthiness. Normally, it’s paired with cured meats, ham, turkey and pretty much anything mushroom-based.