The known Beaujolais Nouveau is drunk immediately after fermentation. But next to them stand the excellent Beaujolais Cru wines, on the standard of more mature and serious brothers. And some even make them obsolete
Contrary to popular legend, the Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations, the young wine that has just finished fermenting, were not born as a commercial initiative in the feverish head of Georges Dubuff, who was nicknamed the “King of Beaujolais”, and is the most famous of his producers. As early as the beginning of the 19th century, the growers would gather the red grapes from which the wines of the Beaujolais region in eastern France are made, to celebrate the end of the harvest by drinking wine from that year, that is, extremely young, in wine terms and almost unfit for drinking by the strict.
Restaurant and bar owners of the time used to purchase barrels as early as September to be bottled towards the middle of November, when the wine would more or less just finish fermenting, but would not have time to mature, age and be praised as is customary with red wines, and quite a few whites.
In 1937, when the Beaujolais region was officially recognized as a controlled wine growing area, regulations were established that prohibited its sale before December 15. In 1951, the regulations were relaxed and it was again allowed to launch the wine on November 15. Only in 1985 was the date known today finally determined: Thursday in the third week of November, midnight between Wednesday and Thursday (this year the date fell on November 17).
These celebrations came to Israel a decade later when the hippie wine bar “Yozer” made a proper conversion to them together with the “Derech Hayin” store chain. The same chain is now making a comeback to this charming line, with the help of its older brothers. We will explain.
Let’s explain: the Beaujolais district is located in southern Burgundy, but unlike the famous red Burgundy wines made from Pinot Noir grapes, the Beaujolais is made from the Gamay grape – which is not considered particularly noble. The wines are divided into several categories. General Beaujolais wines, i.e. all those that come from any recognized Gamay vineyard in the region; Beaujolais Village wines, which come from selected villages whose vineyard grapes are better; and Beaujolais Cru wines, which come from ten villages whose grapes are particularly good and therefore bear the name of the village itself and not the name of the district, meaning that although they are Beaujolais wines they are not called that.
And there is, as mentioned, the Beaujolais Nouveau, which is a separate category in itself. This is a young wine that is produced using a unique method: whole bunches are placed in special stainless steel tanks filled with carbon dioxide. The compactness created as a result of the pressure of the grapes on each other, plus the effect provided by the carbon, produce a very light and fruity wine – some define its taste as “tuti-fruti” or in Hebrew, liquid alcoholic bazooka gum. To me it is more reminiscent of fine raspberry juice. It is the happiest wine there is, and disdain for it, if there is one, is, if I may, the domain of self-important “wine experts”.
Alongside them, as mentioned, there are also cold wines of the district, the deeper and more “serious” complexes, but all this seriousness is with a very limited guarantee. And yet, among them are some of the happiest and happiest wines there are.
Some wines have been imported here for years: the Morgon village wines, for example, have been a huge hit for several years in wine shops and bars. It seems to me that there are quite a few wine lovers who are ready to swear by taking a fancy to wines such as Morgon, Moulin-et-Van and some others and do not know at all that they are actually drinking Beaujolais, a wine that they will not touch with a long stick just because of the simple image that has stuck. The other eight villages that produce Beaujolais Cru are Bruy, Cote de Bruy, Fleury, Saint-Amour, Chirobella, Rainier, Shana and Julien. Morgon is perhaps the most famous of all followed by Molen A Van but they are all really great. Do yourself a favor and try them.