Beaujo-What? An Insider’s Guide to the Grapes behind Beaujolais Nouveau.
Though wine snobs may stick up their sniffers to the easy drinking quality of Beaujolais Nouveau, this unique red wine is no box of Franzia.
Beaujolais Nouveau is a lightweight wine made exclusively from Gamay grapes, and is produced in the Beaujolais region of France- a 34 mile stretch of land in east-central France. By law, all grapes must be harvested by hand in the Beaujolais region.
Without carbonic maceration—a whole berry fermentation which preserves fruit flavors without extracting bitter tannins from the skins of the grapes—Gamay grapes would be unsuitable for wine production due to their extraordinarily high levels of acidity.
Beaujolais Nouveau is the most popular vin de primeur, fermented for just a few weeks then officially released for sale on the third Thursday of November. This Beaujolais Day or Beaujolais Nouveau Day sees heavy marketing from the producers, with races to get the first bottles of the vintage to different markets.
Come celebrate Beaujolais Day with us at the 15th Annual Beaujolais Nouveau Wine Celebration on Thursday, November 19th. You’ll have a chance to taste the 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau as well as other delicious wines, and sample cuisine from 25 of the area’s best restaurants. For more information, please visit http://www.aidscouncil.org/help/beaujolais-nouveau/.
Kara Wisenburn is a social marketing volunteer at the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York. With a dual degree in magazine journalism and marketing management from Syracuse University, Ms. Wisenburn brings a unique combination of creative and analytical skills to the marketing/development department. Ms. Wisenburn volunteers her time to the AIDS Council because she is a firm believer that strategic communication can do more than advance awareness of HIV/AIDS as a public health risk; it can fight to eliminate the HIV/AIDS-related stigma altogether.