Beaujo-Ladies and Beaujo-lads Your Nouveau Day is Here

If “wine is bottled poetry,” as Stevenson waxed poetic, then Beaujolais Day is the uncorking of a vivacious verse anthology. Every third Thursday (unintentionally hilarious in an Irish accent) in November, it’s a full-on French fête to welcome the fresh-faced Beaujolais Nouveau. The tastiest baby in the wine world.

Beaujolais Today

Beaujolais is the trendiest wine of the 21st century, yet there is nothing trendy about Beaujolais. For many younger wine drinkers reared on a diet of either mass-market bottles or bougie Bordeaux, discovering it can be a nurturing next step. Beaujolais was, in many ways, the region that gave birth to the natural wine moment we have all found ourselves swept up in at one point or another. It’s a gateway drug to orange and natural wines, if ever there was one.

Irish wine lovers who turned away from cabernet sauvignon, critics, wine scores and other symbols of convention embraced Beaujolais with a fervour usually reserved for Guinness alone. We are not the only country to adopt Beaujolais as our favourite vin de table. Japan has historically been the number one importer of Beaujolais Nouveau wines – that is, wines from the region that are intended for immediate drinking – buying approximately 3.8 million bottles per year and accounting for nearly half of the French region’s exports, according to Inter Beaujolais.

The Beaujolais of Yore

It comes in and out of fashion at will and has done since the 1800s. The Romans (I am one of those people who is ALWAYS thinking about the Roman empire) were the first to plant vineyards – to keep legionnaires happy! – followed by the Benedictine monks in the Middle Ages. It was the Dukes of Beaujeu who made the wines fashionable. Originally, Lyon was the main market for Beaujolais. When the railroads were built in the 19th century, Beaujolais spread to Paris. This marked the start of the craze for the world’s swiftest wine.

Beaujolais was the OG thirst-quenching wine. It’s why we have the word smashable. The juice is light, tart and low in alcohol. It was served by the pitcher (or barrel) in countless inexpensive restaurants across France. This all began to change in the 1970s, when Beaujolais Nouveau, a charming local ritual of making a new wine just after the harvest, became a global phenomenon.

Nouveau Phénomène

Beaujolais Nouveau is a little silly. If whimsy was a wine, it would be Beaujolais Nouveau. Unlike the wines we were rared on, it isn’t trying to be all complex and highbrow. It’s juice that has a touch of fermentation and six weeks of ageing. As a wine, it’s all light, fruity, and straight-off-the-vine freshness. Think Rebecca Black’s Friday, and you wouldn’t be far off. That’s the vibe. French farmhands have been necking it for centuries.

It’s a young ‘wan of a wine. It’s got all the confidence of youth, painting the town light red. This is definitely in the fun category: the wine is inexpensive and easy-drinking. In part, the joy comes from participating in an international wine moment each year. Everyone in wine land around the world is raising a glass on Beaujolais Nouveau simultaneously.

Also, Thursday is the best day of the week to drink wine. You can finally start to loosen up, but you won’t get dragged into a hape of pints. In the worst-case scenario, you just have to tough it out through one more day. And if you work at a hip start-up, they’re probably cool with the fact that you’re wearing sunglasses inside, at least on Fridays.

Beaujolais Nouveau Day is the Marty Whelan of Thursdays and the prodigy of the weekend. It gives you an excuse to drink wine; it speeds up the week. It’s a little treat. It’ll make you feel a little cultured, ‘cos if they do it in France, it must be culture.

Get Your Hands On It Today

Sophie at Lilith Wines in Stonybatter is hosting a Nouveau Party today from 20:00 to 23:00 in Manor Picture House. They have preordered gallons of Nouveau juice from their fave natural and organic producers. They’ll also offer the finest cheese and charcuterie, and yes, DJ Willo Healy will be spinning us through the night.

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Network Café/All Good wine bar on Aungier Street is pouring for the weekend, with glasses kicking off at €7.50. Greenman Wines in Terenure will also have their annual Nouveau party in full swing, with bottles starting from €19 plus corkage.

Pouring by the glass, you also have some Char besties. There’s Fallon & Byrne, Loose Canon, Frank’s, Bar Pez, Brindle, and The Fumbally. They all have some fresh juice pouring from about €8 a glass.

If you just want to pick up a bottle and have a soirée in your cozies then Mitchell & Son, Blackrock Cellars, Sweeney’s, Baggot Street Wines and all good indies will have them kicking off around twenty quid.