Beaujolais Nouveau?

I'm not quite sure what the attraction is for the BN's? Tried one from Binny's and it seemed like any other $8 wine. Will it age into a $9 bottle if I age it for a few years?

I wouldn't age it for a month. It certainly won't get better. It's more of a celebration of the vintage than something to be taken very seriously. If you'd like beaujolais that will improve with age, I would suggest a Morgon, Moulin a Vent or Brouilly from 2009.

What deesher said. It's meant to be consumed now, by New Year's Eve, the latest.

BonAppetite wrote:Dear BA Foodist,
I love wine, but I hate buying it. Most wine stores, with their enormous selections and often unknowledgeable staffs, can be intimidating. Any tips for navigating a wine store?
Belle Eisner, New York

Dear Belle,
Despite what all the experts say, buying wine will always be a daunting task. During the holidays, the stakes are even higher. Nothing beats good old fashioned wine knowledge but I've got a couple of tips for selecting imported wines that may help you.

Rule 1: Beaujolais Nouveau is never a good idea. Yes, it's inexpensive, but if you want candy, eat candy. Beaujolais-Villages wines, on the other hand, are fine.

Now, now ....

I have very fond memories from the late 80s when I worked for an early tech PR firm in NYC of Nouveau. We would send a runner out the day the wine arrived in NYC and grab a goodly number of bottles and then drink it all afternoon instead of working ... some years the wine was quite nice in a light fun sorta way but others ... ah well, it was an afternoon off work.

zoid wrote:

BonAppetite wrote:Dear BA Foodist,
I love wine, but I hate buying it. Most wine stores, with their enormous selections and often unknowledgeable staffs, can be intimidating. Any tips for navigating a wine store?
Belle Eisner, New York

Dear Belle,
Despite what all the experts say, buying wine will always be a daunting task. During the holidays, the stakes are even higher. Nothing beats good old fashioned wine knowledge but I've got a couple of tips for selecting imported wines that may help you.

Rule 1: Beaujolais Nouveau is never a good idea. Yes, it's inexpensive, but if you want candy, eat candy. Beaujolais-Villages wines, on the other hand, are fine.

Reason 739 not to take advice from Bon Appetit.

Cru Beaujolias is the most underappreciated wine region in the world.Serious bojo ages for decades and is an incredible value.the nouveau marketing has ruined the image.

In the 1970's while working in the LOOP, I frequented Max 'The Hat' Zimmerman's. There were no labels with Nouveau on them that I remember only very fruity, light Beaujolais at $1/bottle. We purchased many cases that Zimmerman's cheerfully delivered to us in Palatine.
Somewhere along the way some marketing 'genius' got in the way and the stuff imported today as Nouveau is not worth even looking at. There are supposedly some good Beaujolais out there today but a wine others recommended was not available to me, the importer doesn't sell in this market and a dealer out in California would not ship me a few cases, so I gave up on Beaujolais, Nouveau or whatever other classification.-Dick

My sister had brought a 3 or 4 year old bottle of the stuff to our house-trying to tell me she just picked it up at a liquor store enroute. I knew better-I knew it had been lying around her house. It made it back into her care package home-unopened.

Georges Duboeuf, Creator of the Beaujolais Nouveau Craze, Dies at 86
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/dini ... -ios-share

So-called "nouveau" wines are produced by a fermentation method quite different from standard fermentation. It's called "maceration carbonic" in reference to the fact that whole grapes sit bathed in a CO2 atmosphere for as long as a week before being crushed, stemmed and fermented. The maceration period allows enzymatic breakdowns along several pathways, which produce the special cherry-like, candied aromas and flavours of these wines. In addition, the gamay grape variety isn't particularly tannic to begin with, and the maceration carbonic pretty much avoids tannin extraction, leaving the final resulting wine quite soft.

Back in the day, I used to make a barrel of nouveau every year, just because it was a hoot. My version compared pretty effectively with the French and California nouveaus we cracked open every late November. I always sold out in a day or two.

It's a quaffing wine, nothing more nor less. Beaujolais crus, OTOH, can be quite serious wines in their own right.

Geo

I do not like to read of anyone’s passing.
But the demise of Nouveau Beaujolais if of no concern to me.
In 1971 Zimmerman’s offered a ‘nice’ Beaujolais of the year for $1/bottle.
A similar priced Niersteiner was also offered. No case discount at that price.
Both were very pleasant wines of their respective regions.
I still remember the look on the delivery man’s eye’s as he viewed the three flights of steps to our apartment in Palatine and the 7 cases of wines on the hand truck!
But Nouveau Beaujolais changed all that.
Total crap, in many cases, not even drinkable as the market rushed to profit!
Now, I won’t even look at Beaujolais, even the non-nouveau wines I have tried are not very good.
The World is awash in wine since the 1970’s and Beaujolais has left itself behind.
-Richard

Generally agree with the views on Nouveau but I do suggest trying a Jean-Paul Brun Beaujolais Nouveau if you get the chance. They do a indigenous yeast culture in the middle of the vineyard with the first grapes to kick-start things and avoid the banana-y esters of the commercial yeasts. The 2019 was like a pure strawberry syrup except bone dry. Is it better than his regular Ancien bottle? No, but close and even easier to drink.

tazerowe-- is Brun's nouveau done by maceration carbonique??


Interesting yeast method.

Geo

Geo wrote:tazerowe-- is Brun's nouveau done by maceration carbonique??


Interesting yeast method.

Geo

I'm fairly sure it isn't carbonique, as I don't think Brun does for any of his wines. It has the freshness you get in carbonique, but not the exact flavor profile.