Le Noveau ést arrivé

This is the slogan for Beaujolais Nouveau Day, the third Thursday in November when wine lovers in France and around the world race to take part in the traditional tasting of the year’s Beaujolais Nouveau. Far from France and Beaujolais, Ubifrance celebrated the day by offering a Beaujolais taste at Alliance Française, on Kildare St. There was Patrick Thevenet, presenting wines from AOC Chénas and Moulin à Vent – délicieux!Beaujolais is a French AOC wine usually made from the Gamay grape. Whites are made mostly from Chardonnay grapes though Aligoté is also permitted. Beaujolais tends to be a very light-bodied red wine, with relatively high amounts of acidity.The wine takes its name from the historical Province of Beaujolais, located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north of the Rhône, in the Rhône-Alpes region, and southern areas of the Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy. The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, for the use of carbonic maceration.

But there are more than Le Noveau in Beaujolais. Some wines are made to be released later, and the best ones come from areas named Crus, classified as stand-alone appellations. They are: Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Côte de Brouilly, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Régnié and St. Amour. While Le Nouveau is made in a drink-now style, Les Crus are made more traditionally, and tend to be released a year or two later.