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It's Beaujolais Nouveau time!


brownie

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The 2005 Beaujolais Nouveau wine goes on sale at 2300GMT today. Beaujolais Nouveau parties will be going through the country tonight. It will make a nice change from the recent car-burning competitions!

The year's crop should be good.

Just a reminder that there is no need to rush to taste the Nouveau wine. Much too early. Wait a couple of months before enjoying it!

There are a lot of older wines to be tasted while waiting :P

It's been a bad year for Beaujolais winegrowers with sales of their wines on the down side. The area winegrowers - most of them at least - have only themselves to blame after inflating prices of their wines, adding sugar to 'improve' the taste, or deliberately cheating like Beaujolais top grower Georges Duboeuf who is facing an inquiry for selling wines with the Beaujolais labels that included wines from non-Beaujolais areas. Very strictly prohibited in the French wine trade!

I'll enjoy wine later today, as I have for so many years. But no Beaujolais Nouveau right now!

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The 2005 Beaujolais Nouveau wine goes on sale at 2300GMT today. Beaujolais Nouveau parties will be going through the country tonight. It will make a nice change from the recent car-burning competitions!

The year's crop should be good.

Just a reminder that there is no need to rush to taste the Nouveau wine. Much too early. Wait a couple of months before enjoying it!

There are a lot of older wines to be tasted while waiting  :P

It's been a bad year for Beaujolais winegrowers with sales of their wines on the down side. The area winegrowers - most of them at least - have only themselves to blame after inflating prices of their wines, adding sugar to 'improve' the taste, or deliberately cheating like Beaujolais top grower Georges Duboeuf who is facing an inquiry for selling wines with the Beaujolais labels that included wines from non-Beaujolais areas. Very strictly prohibited in the French wine trade!

I'll enjoy wine later today, as I have for so many years. But no Beaujolais Nouveau right now!

It is definitely one of the things I miss from France. I like the tradition of the 'Beaujolais Nouveau'. Tell us what you think of this year's flavour Brownie. Is that banana, strawberry, raspberry, pineapple etc... And if you are not quite sure, please send me a bottle and I will help you to find out. :D;)

Edited by ASNL77
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Californian wine fan here... Although I do enjoy the Beaujolais Nouveau. I didn't relaize it needed to sit. I was always told to drink it asap as it would only go downhill after bottling. Hmm. Maybe I should pick up a couple of bottles and stash them?

You are right. You do not want to keep it for a long time. Do not buy so many bottles if you do not intend to drink them in the next 6-9 months.

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The best way to drink Beaujolais Nouveau is right out of the barrel: chug-a-lug

I didn't realize that Duboeuf is facing charges like that. I have always treated his labels as a guarantee of quality from the Beaujolais region!

The main commercial problem for Beaujolais is all of the cheap fresh, fruity wine for early consumption, including Nouveau, that is now made in so many countries of the world.

I still really appreciate a nice cool bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau at least a few times a year. That bright bubble gum flavor reminds me of my days of buying packs of baseball cards and praying for a Willie Mays.

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John, there is an interesting article in today's edition of Le Monde that mentions Duboeuf's woes:

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-...6-710762,0.html

If I remember well, you have no problems with the french language so the story should go down easy!

As for drinking Beaujolais Nouveau, short of drinking it right out of the barrel, a trip to the area of to the good city of Lyon is always quite an experience.

Too bad that the local winegrowers produced too many doctored bottles to suit the taste of new customers.

There is still good Beaujolais being made, but you have to be very selective about it. Beaujolais land never produced great wines but kept putting out for decades bottles that were so enjoyable to drink. A pity these are hard to find nowadays.

Edited by brownie
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After warning people to wait some time for a first taste of the 2005 Beaujolais, I did succomb to the brouhaba!

Got a bottle pf Beaujolais Village Nouveau from Joseph Drouhin which turned out to be quite enjoyable. With no (or at least very little) chemistry enhancement.

Pretty true to what the wine should taste. It went down with Saucisson from Lyon and other unmentionable charcuteries.

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Brownie: Thanks for that interesting article.

Sidwinder: It is mistake is to compare Beaujolais Nouveau with other, more serious wine. It is a beverage that is somewhere between beer and wine. It can be consumed cooler and faster than most other red wine without sacrificing anything. You don't even need wine glasses.

Despite the obvious commerical interests, I really like the holiday. It is something like the traditional celebration of the harvest in the best spirit of civilization and wild good times.

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