Originally published on November 21, 2009.
So I was planning to write a post bemoaning how this year, it’s been the height of wine-writing fashion to bash the Beaujolais Nouveau. I was going to say that just like any wine, there is good Nouveau and bad Nouveau. And to cast an entire type of wine as gimmicky and over-produced is an oversimplification.
I was going to say that finding a good Nouveau can be as easy as choosing one from a producer who makes a good non-Nouveau. And that many of these producers don’t airlift anymore – they bring it over on a boat, which is even more fuel effective than trucking wine over from California. And that while I would happily drink a local version of Nouveau (say if Shinn Winery had one for sale), I haven’t yet found one.
I was going to say that despite the current lack of wine geek love, Beaujolais Nouveau is still a perfect pairing to Thanksgiving. What could be more appropriate than the first wine of the harvest paired with a meal meant to celebrate the harvest? And its fresh fruity (even grapey) notes, tempered with a bit of earthiness, make it a good counterbalance to the heaviness of the Thanksgiving meal.
That’s what I was planning to do. Unfortunately, as of about 4.28pm on Sunday, I had sold through my entire shipment of Domaine de La Madone Beaujolais Nouveau 2009 save for one lonely bottle.
Au revior Bojo. See you next year.