Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Yesterday was Beaujolais Nouveau Day, and I don't know how I have lived in this country for nearly two years before learning about it.

Beaujolais is a region of France which - like most regions in France - produces its own special wine. Traditionally, on the third Thursday of November, the first batch of wine - that is, the grapes pressed from September's harvest - is available for sale. Of course, being that it is such a young wine, most French people regard it as crap. But it's tradition to drink the Beaujolais Nouveau on this day, and purists use the opportunity to wage if this year's vintage will be good or not.

Three separate people who told me about Beaujolais Nouveau Day used the expression "excellent marketing technique". Every bar and restaurant has a sign advertising the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau, every grocery store has bottles for sale, and many villages have entire festivals dedicated to the wine.

According to Wikipedia, the Beaujolais Nouveau is also wildly popular in Japan (I've heard that jumbo jets full of wine are flown to Japan the night before the big day) and the US, where it is typically marketed for Thanksgiving.

All this fuss for bad wine.

I happened to be out for lunch with my group at a local pizza restaurant when my colleague Hervé spotted the sign advertising the Beaujolais Nouveau. He ordered a glass and asked if I was interested. Well of course I was interested, this is cultural education.

I know nothing about wine, so the only thing I can tell you is that it was light. Unfortunately, not light enough, because halfway through my meal I was hit by a wall of dizzy, followed by a fit of giggles. My colleagues were baffled, open a window near my head, fetched a bottle of water, and fought over my camera phone to take pictures of me.

By the end of the meal I was thinking straight again, but I could tell that my face still glowed pink. Back at my desk I kept my head low and popped mints and gum to banish the smell of drunk from my breath. This is one of my personal greatest mysteries: how can I drink one small glass of wine and smell like a wino?

After an hour I was given the thumbs-up by the guys who sit closest to me and was free to roam from my desk without fear of anyone seeing me. There's a mistake I won't be making again.

At David's work, his boss bought a bottle of the Beaujolais Nouveau at the company cantine (his company still has liquor for sale in their cafeteria - mine stopped over a year ago) and poured a healthy glass for everyone. Dave's colleagues asked if he liked it (he did not), and if he could taste the banana in it (he could not).

Wikipedia also told me that the Beaujolais Nouveau can have the flavors of banana and pear. This is not due to additives, but a result of the way the fruit breaks down.

Dave and I discussed it on the way home. I told him what I head read on Wiki, and he exploded in irritation.

"There's nothing snobbier than a group of people who claim to perceive something that doesn't exist!"

This morning I called to check up on a friend who I knew had been out with a buddy and a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau last night.

"Ah.." he said, fondly recalling the previous night's events "...the Beaujolais tasted like banana."