Beaujolais nouveau

As a multicultural Parisian foodie, some French traditions do baffle me, numero uno, Beaujolais nouveau. It’s just not very good. I just don’t get it. Beaujolais Nouveau tradition started in the mid-20th century. Most winemakers would celebrate the end of harvest by sampling an early taste of the new vintage but none as effectively as Beaujolais nouveau since it expanded beyond the wineries to the region and then to the rest of France and the world in the 80s, thanks to a successful self-promotion stunt with an official festive release date—the third Thursday of November.

The French have always excelled at self-promoting their food and drinks thanks to, amongst other things, consistent labeling, quality control, a powerful dose of self-assurance, some may even say a certain je ne sais quoi of arrogance. But, to be fair, the French may have chopped of their king’s head during the revolution and eventually separated Church and State, for many, food and wine have replaced religion in France, and, you have got to hand it to them, they just know their stuff.

There are in France 463 officially recognized wine designations, amongst which 386 hold the AOC (controlled designation of origin) / AOP (protected designation of origin) labels and 77 the IGP label (protected geographic designation).

I believe the added value of wines in France as opposed to other countries is their mind-boggling variety, single grapes or blends, as well as incomparable price ranges. Italians have amazing wines (and more designations than the Frenc) but they tend to be more expensive on average. You really don’t have to spend that much money to enjoy a great French wine. For me, often times, the difference between a good 30-50 € wine and a very expensive one is not always blatant. And you can find great quality wines starting at 10/15 €.

Also, there is so much more to French wine regions than Bordeaux or Bourgogne. One of my choice wine regions is in fact Beaujolais, just not Beaujolais nouveau. It has 12 fabulous designations: Brouilly, Côte-de-Brouilly, Chiroubles, Régnié, Morgon, Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas, Juliénas, Saint-Amour, Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages. These are all Gamay grape red wines.

I discovered this marvelous region early in my relationship with Nico, my husband and life partner in foodie crimes. We started the weekend in Beaujolais with a mega celebration of his dad’s 50^th birthday, first time I was meeting family and friends, and we ate, drank, danced and made merry till dawn. The next day, our hair still hurting, Nico drove us off for a lovely weekend, eating and drinking our way through the different villages, including Saint Amour.

There are over 200 grape varieties used in French wines though about 50 planted on large surfaces and 20 used in almost all wines (these are listed further below with their regions in case of interest).

Grapevines are very ancient plants (over 60 million years old, before mankind). The first traces of viticulture date back to 6000 BC in Mesopotamia and Caucasia. About 3000 BC The Egyptians and Phoenicians developed wine further, reserving it for the royals, for religious rites and ceremonies.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Egyptians taught winemaking to the Greeks about 2000 BC. Wine was so important to the Greeks that it had its own God, Dionysos. From there, it spread through Southern Europe around 1000 BC and Northern Europe around 500 BC. Up until the Middle Ages, wine was cut with water, as water was often polluted and this helped purify it. The search for refining and perfecting wine started around the 17^th century.

Now wine production has spread to over 150 countries, 77 of which have significant production.

List of French grape varieties

Red grape varieties (dominant plantings and volumes)

·       Merlot – Southwest/Bordeaux

·       Cabernet Sauvignon – Bordeaux, Southwest

·       Cabernet Franc – Bordeaux, Loire

·       Syrah – Rhône, Languedoc

·       Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc – Beaujolais, Loire

·       Pinot Noir – Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace

·       Grenache / Grenache Noir – Southern Rhône

·       LanguedocCarignan – Languedoc, Roussillon

·       Cinsault – Languedoc, Provence

·       Mourvèdre – Provence, Languedoc

 White grape varieties (dominant plantations and volumes)

·       Ugni Blanc – Southwest, Cognac, Languedoc

·       Chardonnay – Burgundy, Champagne, Jura

·       Sauvignon Blanc – Loire, Bordeaux

·       Sémillon – Bordeaux, Southwest

·       Aligoté – Burgundy

·       Melon de Bourgogne

·        Muscadet (Loire Atlantique)

·       Muscadet / Folle Blanche – Loire

·       Viognier – Rhône, Languedoc

·       Gros Manseng – Southwest

·       Petit Manseng – Southwest