For both wine connoisseurs and revelers alike, the Thursday before Thanksgiving has taken on a heightened significance in the United States over the past several years: the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine from the Burgundy region of France. The very young red wine is made from the gamay grape and aged less than a year before its cork is pulled, which, by law, cannot occur until the third Thursday in November. (Note: Not surprisingly, French people take this very seriously. I have seen a French friend of mine ready to come to blows upon hearing that a restaurant in New York was serving the beaujolais nouveau ahead of time. So watch out!)

The wine is also, as the aforementioned friend told me several years ago, supposed to foreshadow the flavor and quality of that region's wines for that year once they have aged further, so the Beaujolais Nouveau is considered a sneak peek of what is to come.

The official first tasting of Beaujolais Nouveau has been a much heralded event in France for several decades — more so since the 1970s when winemaker Georges Dubouef had been marketing the wine's release as a special occasion — and celebrations in the United States, including D.C., have followed suit. Many of the city's French restaurants and cafés stay open late on the Wednesday before the big day to open the wine at midnight, and in the past, many of them have offered the new wine for free. We're not sure if it's the economy, or the desire to tone down the, ahem, revelry that has in the past gone along with the copious drinking of free wine, but far fewer of the parties are offering the Beaujolais Nouveau for free this year. Or if they are, only the first glass is free. Below is a list of some of the possible events you could hit to celebrate the wine later this week.

Image courtesy of Flickr user jetalone.

Bistrot du Coin: As has become tradition, Bistrot du Coin in DuPont Circle is hosting its annual Beaujolais Nouveau party Wednesday night into Thursday morning, serving the Georges Duboeuf 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau free of charge beginning at midnight. Reservations are still available for dinner for the second seating, and the restaurant recommends sitting down to dinner by 9 or 9:30 because dinner service will stop as usual at 11 p.m. If you're just interested in the free wine, er, getting the earliest possible taste of this year's bottle, they will likely start letting in bar patrons around 11:30 p.m.

Café du Parc: This bistro-style restaurant inside the Willard Intercontinental Hotel downtown will be holding a Beaujolais Nouveau tasting Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. Tastings are $5, and the restaurant will be offering, in addition to its regular menu, oysters, a cheese plate and, among other things, tarte flambé (ooh la la!). The real steal to Café du Parc's celebration, however, is that anyone with a dinner reservation between 6 and 8 p.m. will receive 25 percent off their entire bill. Space is still available.

Napoleon: Via Going out Gurus, Napoleon in Adam's Morgan is hosting the "Top Ranking Beaujolais Nouveau Party" Thursday night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. DJ Meistro will be spinning as usual in the downtown champagne room, and Beaujolais Nouveau will go for $5 per glass. From 8 p.m.- 2 a.m., DJ Chris Burns spins house and disco in the oh-so-chic Metropolitain lounge on Napoleon's lower level. Beaujolais Nouveau wine is free until it runs out, so arrive on the early side.

Mon Ami Gabi:: Both the Bethesda and Reston locations of this French restaurant are offering a special menu for the Beaujolais Nouveau release beginning Thursday and running for a full week.

Bastille: Chefs Christophe and Michelle Poteaux of Old Town's popular French restaurant Bastille, will feature the Beaujolais Nouveau in a special menu all weekend. Wines from the Beaujolais region, both nouveau and not, will also be available by the glass and by the bottle throughout December. The chefs recommend pairing their trio of duck charcuterie (paté, prosciutto, rilletes) to start or the 12-hour-braised pork belly in beer sauce entree with a glass of the light-bodied red.

International Club of DC: The International Club of DC is hosting its "Beaujolais-Not-So-Nouveau" party Thursday in conjunction with the French Wine Society, the Washington Wine Academy and GiraMondo Wine Adventures. For $19 you can sample the 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau and enjoy complimentary appetizers. To get the full "not-so-nouveau" experience, however, you can shell out the $59 and get full access to the tasting room, where the group will offer a dozen different wines from the region, of both nouveau and older vintages, with appetizer pairings. Tickets are still available via the event site.

Alliance Française: The D.C. chapter of Alliance Française will host a wine and cheese party Friday in honor of the Beaujolais Nouveau at the group's Wyoming Ave location. Tickets are $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Information and ticket sales here.

French Culinary Society: In what will likely have the most delicious food of all the events, the French International Culinary Society and the French-American Chamber of Commerce are hosting a "gourmet networking affair," Friday that will feature the wine, as well as cocktails made with French liquors, and food offerings including cassoulet, onion and bacon tart, fennel confit and lots of other delicious items with French names. Tickets are still available and can be purchased via the web here.

If you don't feel like braving the crowds (or shelling out the bones) you could easily host your own Beaujolais Nouveau soiree at home. Most of the local wine and liquor stores will at least be carrying the Dubouef, and a few that we checked with noted that they plan to carry several different bottles of the wine. Best part is, Beaujolais Nouveau makes for a great weeknight celebration, because its relatively low tannin levels mean much less chance of a next-day red wine headache. Happy tasting!