The New Beaujolais Festival

The third Thursday of November became “Winemaker’s Day”As usual, on the third Thursday of November, exactly at midnight, the feast of the new Beaujolais, a young wine made in a small region north of Lyon, comes to French soil.

The Beaujolais Nouveau holiday appeared in France in the middle of the twentieth century and had a purely commercial basis. In principle, wine from the grapes of the “game” variety, which is traditionally grown in Beaujolais, is noticeably inferior in quality to the products of winemakers of Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Some French monarchs even called Beaujolais "disgusting sulk" and categorically forbade serving it to their table. As a rule, beaujolais is not adapted to long storage, but it ripens faster than Bordeaux or Burgundy wines, and it is at a young age that it has a rather rich flavor and aromatic bouquet.

After reflection, the winemakers of Beaujolais decided to turn the shortcomings of their product for good and proclaimed the third Thursday of November a festival of wine of the new harvest. This advertising and marketing move turned into an unprecedented success, and now the day of the Beaujolais Nouveau is celebrated not only in France, but also in many other countries of the world.

One of the indicators of the annual world hype on the third Thursday of November recorded in the Guinness Book of Records - in 1993 for the first glass of Beaujolais Nouveau in one English beer store was paid $ 1450.

Gradually, the holiday acquired its traditions. The third Thursday of November became the "Winemaker's Day", a day when the whole country walks and when it becomes possible to assess how successful the harvest was this year. In addition, it is also a popular and fashionable tradition, which was invented by the inhabitants of the most wine-producing country in the world.

As usual, the start of the celebration give winemakers from the town of Bojo. Holding lit torches from the vine in their hands, they enter the city square with a solemn procession, where barrels with young wine have already been installed. At exactly midnight, the plugs are knocked out, and the hopper jets of Beaujolais Nouveau begin another annual journey across France and the world.

A few days before the third Thursday of November, from the small villages and towns of the Beaujolais region, millions of bottles of young wine begin their journey from France to countries and continents, where it is already eagerly awaited in shops and cafes, restaurants and clubs.

For their owners to host a festival of young wine - a matter of honor! There is even a competition between producers who will be the first to deliver their wine to a particular part of the world. Everything is used: motorcycles, trucks, helicopters, Concord planes, rickshaws, etc. It is almost impossible to explain the reasons for the crazy popularity of this holiday in the world. There is something mystical about it...

Regardless of the time zone, the Beaujolais tasting of the new crop begins on the third Thursday of every November. Beaujolais Nouveau is a whole ritual, a great pagan and folk festival. Being universal, it adapts to any country and blends into any culture.