Club Beaujolais Nouveau
Each year while we were in grad school, when the third Thursday in November rolled around, our bumbling classmate honed in on the class’ most desirable woman and asked her out for a drink. His clockwork ballsiness didn’t earn him attention so much as the method he used. “Would you like to join me at the bar across the street,” he paused and lowered his voice, “to taste the new Beaujolais Nouveau?” After shrugging off the redundancy of his question, the woman typically shrugged him off. Our classmate then continued down his list until he found the lucky lady who would mistake his French-cloaked horniness for sophistication.
DCist is on the scene to translate our sleazy classmate’s Beaujolais Nouveau question—and to let you know when and where you might find this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau so that you might ask the question yourself.
Beaujolais is a town that gives its name to a small wine-making district in central-eastern France, just north of Lyon in southern Burgundy. Although Burgundy is generally known for its pinot noir, the Beaujolais district is the agneau noir of the region. Longstanding French law dictates that Beaujolais winemakers may call their wine “Beaujolais” only if it’s made of a single grape—gamay. Gamay is a pinot noir relative that gives rise to light-bodied, fruity red wines that—like Haley Joel Osment’s film career—peak very early. And because berry-like gamay wines aren’t very complex, don’t age particularly well, and stand in the long shadow of Burgundian pinot noir, they traditionally lagged far behind their regional counterpart in popularity and respectability.
Until a guy named Georges Duboeuf came along in the 1960s. Duboeuf, a Beaujolais grape grower and wine distributor, resolved to make his gamay-based wines more marketable and profitable. Realizing that gamay was most vibrant in its youth (and that people just happen to like shiny new things), Duboeuf launched a marketing ploy worthy of the Bower Agency. He cast Beaujolais as a wine for the now. What’s more, Duboeuf created the wine world’s equivalent of Krispy Kreme’s flashing “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign. Each November, right after the Beaujolais wines from that year’s grape crop were bottled, Duboeuf began proclaiming that “Le Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrivé!”—or, “The New Beaujolais Has Arrived.”
Wine wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and drinkers didn’t stop to wonder whether they’d even been waiting for it. They simply bought it and drank it. (Indeed, DCist speculates that Duboeuf named his son “Franck” after the many pre-Euro Francs that Duboeuf earned as a result of his marketing genius.) In 1985, France’s Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO) made it official and established the third Thursday in November each year as the date of the new Beaujolais vintage’s coming-out party. Beaujolais winemakers and distributors (contrary to popular opinion, Duboeuf isn’t the only one) may ship the new vintage before then, but the wine is sold on the condition that it’s not uncorked until the stroke of midnight on that third Thursday of November—which happens to fall this year on Nov. 17.
A few months ago, Duboeuf got himself into a bit of hot water. The French government went all “J’accuse” on his ass, suggesting that Duboeuf’s winery was blending lower-end wine into higher-end wine and selling it as the higher-end stuff. That is a non-non. But it doesn’t much matter with the Beaujolais Nouveau, which is cheap and easy-drinking anyway. Like pinot noir, the low-tannin, cherry-nosed Beaujolais is a versatile wine that matches well with anything from lighter Asian fare to wine-based stews such as beef Burgundy and coq au vin. Wine Bible author Karen MacNeil suggests pairing Beaujolais with Lyon bouchon staples such as pork sausages or frisée salad with lardons, while chef Paul Bocuse drops sliced peaches in a glass and drenches them with Beaujolais. Or you could do as we did on last year’s Beaujolais Nouveau release date—hit a local resto-lounge and split a bottle with two friends. This year, here’s where you’ll be able to get your Beaujolais Nouveau on.
- Les Halles. As it does each year, Les Halles—of waiter race, “steak-frites-salade” and Anthony Bourdain fame—is popping open bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau at midnight on Nov. 17. That is, go to Les Halles’ swinging fête on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 16 and enjoy some free grapey gamay when p.m. changes to a.m. Les Halles, 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. (202) 347-6868.
- Bistrot du Coin. Also, on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 16, Dupont Circle’s Bistrot du Coin holds its annual Beaujolais Nouveau party, replete with free wine and dancing. In years past, “I’m-not-a-lame-duck” lame-duck Mayor Anthony Williams has joined owner Michel Verdon to open the first bottle after midnight. No doubt, he will blog about his experience the next day. Bistrot du Coin, 1738 Connecticut Avenue NW. (202) 234-6969.
- The French Embassy/La Maison Française. French Ambassador Jean-David Lafitte opens his pad to Beaujolais Nouveau revelers, as the Washington, D.C. chapter of the French American Chamber of Commerce hosts the 16th annual Festival du Beaujolais Nouveau on Nov. 17, 7 to 9 p.m. For a hefty $65, you’ll gain access to a Beaujolais Nouveau open bar (including wine from producers Duboeuf, Joseph Drouhin and Bouchard Aîné, among others), delectable desserts from the fabulous Patisserie Poupon, and charcuterie and traditional French dishes from Takoma Park’s Savory Café. And you must bring a photo ID for security reasons; they don’t want any rioters. The Embassy of France, La Maison Française, 4101 Reservoir Road NW. Get tickets in advance, online.
- L'Alliance Française. If you like your party a bit more subdued, L’Alliance Française gets out of the gate relatively late with its TV5 USA-sponsored Beaujolais Nouveau Wine and Cheese Party on Friday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. The event features music from accordionist Ross Quan and the Mediterranean Duo, Kamel and Hacène. (We thought the Mediterranean Duo was olives and hummus, but we won’t quibble.) Your Bill Maher-esque panelists will include Olivier Bauer, the pastor of the French-speaking Protestant Church of Washington; Peggy Pacot, Director of the French Maternal School of Washington; and Brett Wells, an independent researcher at the University of Québec at Trois Rivières. Tickets cost $24 for members and $32 for non-members. L’Alliance Française, 2142 Wyoming Avenue NW. (202) 234-7911.