THIS JUST IN...

Excitement Abounds!!

Do you know what today is???? Besides Thursday??? It's Beaujolais Nouveau Day! A magical day that happens once a year on the third Thursday in November. For the uninitiated, Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine of the new vintage, so the 2012 Nouveau was harvested just a few short months ago. As you might imagine this doesn't leave a lot of time for ageing and often results in a sub-par wine, which we are allowed to imbibe for the first time on the Thursday before Turkey Day. However, I like to believe that BN Day is more about celebrating the end of a successful harvest than it is about the BN itself.

Beaujolais Nouveau tends to pair well with traditional Thanksgiving meals, so its release coincides nicely with the holiday. But since we're being honest-- while I appreciate the Beaujolais Nouveau I don't usually like it, and I can't tell you that this particular vintage is any different for me. Bummer.

I promised I would try not to use descriptors like "toe jam" or "sweat" to describe its flavor, so I'll just tell you its youth is evident. It has a deep ruby color and a juicy smell, but doesn't provide a lot of varied flavor or growth with the sip. Really, I think it's more fun just to have a glass to toast the harvest and the hopes of a great year of wines to come.

And because I enjoy making crap up, I've been thinking while I sip the BN that there should be more to it than just "Huzzah! New wine!" So I came up with this: You know how on Groundhog Day we look for the groundhog's shadow to decide if we're getting 6 more weeks of winter or not? Well, on Beaujolais Nouveau Day, we should taste the new wine to decide if wines this season are going to be any good. My theory? The sweatier-tasting the Beaujolais, the better the wines coming down the pike (it probably has more to do with the weather, but I'm making up some lore here so just play along). If that is the case, I'm really glad I don't like Beaujolais Nouveau, because that means I'll be tasting some really good stuff soon.

Awesomesauce.

Price: $

My Rating: I plead the fifth