11/01/2004

Dawn of the New Wine Season - Beaujolais Nouveau

The Traditional Dawn of the New Wine Season - Beaujolais Nouveau

Now it is just a short time away from the annual return of Beaujolais Nouveau. This year, my wife Dianne and I will be attending the Dallas Beaujolais Nouveau Festival on Nov. 19, 2004.

Beaujolais Nouveau, the first wine of the season, is bottled just weeks after the grapes are picked. Each year, these first wines are released to be drunk all over the world on the third Thursday of November. It is understood to be the official start of the new vintage and a celebration, like Thanksgiving, of the harvest.

I like to think that, in tasting Beaujolais Nouveau, I am tasting with thousands of people around the world. An incredible one third of the entire Beaujolais wine grape production is shipped as Beaujolais Nouveau. There are several classifications of Beaujolais wines, ranging in quality and price, from Nouveau (lowest quality) to Cru (highestquality). The annual Beaujolais Nouveau tasting is used by wine experts as a benchmark to predict the quality each year's grapes.

Beaujolais wines are made from the very fruity Gamay grape that is low in the tannins. It is described by some as a white wine that looks red. In fact, people who drink only white wine, or white zinfandel, can depend on Beaujolais as a non-threatening approach to red wine. Beaujolais Nouveau is produced entirely from the gamay grape, grown in the southern region of Burgundy, near Lyon, France.

More than a beloved custom, the BN Event is a great promotion for winemakers who reap a quick return on a crop that is barely two months off the vine. Originally, consumers brought their own containers to purchase Beaujolais Nouveau, saving themselves and the vintners the money and time that would normally go into bottling. Since VineByDesign.com is always looking for new ways to promote Oklahoma wines, we are hoping to bring back some key lessons for Oklahoma wineries.

Georges Duboeuf, the largest negociant in the region, is one of the driving forces behind the success of Beaujolais Nouveau. More than a fifth of his annual production of about 20 million bottles is Beaujolais Nouveau. Duboeuf emphasizes temperature-controlled fermentation and the technique of carbonic maceration, which yields a dependable fruity character in the wine.

In Carbonic Maceration fermentation, whole bunches of grapes are allowed to ferment in sealed containers with carbon dioxide gas, this allows the wine to have lots of fruit and color and little tannin. The result is a light, crisp, fresh wine, that is very easy to drink. Many consider Beaujolais Nouveau at its best when served lightly chilled and gulped in large mouthfuls like beer.

Beaujolais Wine Nouveau 2004!
http://www.faccdallas.com/EVENTS/bfestPay.htm

Friday, November 19, 2004
7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Adam's Mark Hotel Dallas
400 North Olive Street
(between Live Oak & Bryan)
Dallas, TX 75201
The Beaujolais Festival ticket price includes: Commemorative Wine Glass, Food and Wine Tasting.

Dianne and I would love to meet any Oklahoma Wine News readers planning to attend!

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