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It is Beaujolais Nouveau Time
2006/11/30
text by Hellen Zhou
At one minute past midnight on the third Thursday of each November, more than a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a dreamy France to Paris for immediate shipment to all parts of the world. Banners proclaim the good news: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! (the New Beaujolais has arrived!) With this, one of the most frivolous and animated rituals in the wine world has begun.
The more than 2,000-year-old Beaujolais Nouveau is characterized in its 2006 vintage as: aromatic, fruity and round. The 2006 Beaujolais Nouveau is clothed in a deep robe with purple-blue tints that are the signature of their freshness and youth. On the nose they literally explode, with a very rich and expressive bouquet of raspberry and red or black currant depending on the way the wine was made. Don’t forget that there is never a single Beaujolais Nouveau, but as many as there are winemakers. In the mouth the wine is rounded with supple tannins and a structure that makes it a lip-smacking delight that is particular to Beaujolais Nouveau. There is also high anthocyane content while tannins are a little above normal. In short, it is a joy, a mouthful of sunshine on the eve of winter, a zest of summer that’ll bring a smile to your lips. Wine lovers in Beijing and Shanghai now enjoy Beaujolais Nouveau from the third Thursday of each November, just as in other metropolises like London, New York, Tokyo and Sydney.