One of the craziest and most successful wine promotions ever has got to be the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau.

Beaujolais Primeur (it's real name, since the wine is released immediately after the harvest and not the following spring), has been a tradition of the early 20th century France that has carried on into the 21st.  While the race has lost some of it's original cachet and regulations have been changed, the release of this wine continues to generate sales worldwide of over 70 million bottles a year!

Before the trade in wine was regulated back in the late 1930's, this November phenomenon was a great excuse for people in the French city of Lyon to hit the bars and guzzle the new wines with gusto. Rules for it's release were changed in the 1950's so more than locals could enjoy it, and a mid November release date - the third Thursday of November - was established for what officially became known as "Beaujolais Nouveau".

 

The wine is made from hand-harvested Gamay noir a jus blanc grapes. It is vinified via carbonic maceration (whole berry fermentation) which gives the wine it's characteristic fresh, vibrant and fruity character with very low tannins. If it's poorly made, it will taste like raspberry jam at best.  Whatever the quality, it does not improve with age.  It is meant to be drunk within 3 months, served chilled and gulped rather than sipped.   

 

So why the great race?  The first race occured in the 1950's when British wine merchants would descend on the Beaujolais region, load up their lorries and race back to the Calais ferry at the stroke of midnight. Being the first to arrive with it on their shelf brought great recognition to the merchant. The tradition gathered momentum and more and more elaborate schemes evolved for getting the wine into the U.K. as close as possible to that midnight deadline on the third Thursday of November.  Fast motorbikes, military jets and even vintage cars were put to the task. In remoter parts of the world, elephants, rickshaws and even runners have played their parts.

 

Nowadays, rules have changed to allow the wines to be distributed worldwide at their final destinations in time for the appointed midnight hour release. Japan is the biggest consumer, followed by the Americans.

 

Beaujolais Nouveau often gets a bad rap, being described as "Kool Aid wine" or "lightly fermented alcoholized fruit juice".  It's great commercial success has often been at the expense of Beaujolais' finer wines, which should not be underestimated.

 

So, keep the race alive and do your bit!  Raise a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau on the third weekend of November with some friends.  Afterall, it is a fun story and, should you need one, a great excuse for a party!