Say wha... ? In English, please. It's that time of year when the the wine made from Gamay grapes grown in the Beaujolais region is released in the same year of its harvest. Bottles of the current year’s Beaujolais Nouveau are officially released on the third Thursday of November. For many years, the official date was November 15th, but in 1985 it was decided that a Thursday release would bring about a more festive celebration, as people tend to party on the weekend. (If your weekends don't start on Thursday, it might be time to move to France.)
Few other wines are produced, bottled, and released within a few weeks of the harvest. The most strategic way to do this is to employ a winemaking method called carbonic maceration. Without getting too technical, carbonic maceration is essentially the fermentation of grapes occurring inside the skins. Traditionally, the winemaking process begins with the crushing of grapes; the juice of the grapes is pushed out of the skins and gradually ferments. For red wines, this juice is often left to sit with its skins so that tannins are extracted, giving the wine a fuller, more concentrated structure, and often adding some bitter flavors. With carbonic maceration, the grapes are not crushed. Rather, the grapes are piled on top of each other in a sealed container that is filled with carbon dioxide. More CO2 is emitted by the grapes on the bottom of the container, as it is gently crushed by the weight of the top grapes. All this carbon dioxide causes fermentation to take place inside the grape skins (don’t ask me why, take a chemistry course).
The results? A wine that is fresh, fruity, and meant to be drunk very quickly! Sounds good to me! Beaujolais Nouveau is not a wine to sniff, swirl, and contemplate; it’s a wine to pour and party with, which is exactly what we plan to do.
Join us on November 14th from 5:30-7:30 in the South Alley in front of Cru Wine Bar for a Beaujolais Block Party! Sample fifteen different Beaujolais paired with delicious wine country food, all while enjoying live music and good friends. You can purchase your tickets at Cru!
Hope to see you there!
West Village
3699 McKinney Ave. #107
Dallas, TX 75204
214-526-9463
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