At one minute past midnight on the third Thursday of each November, from little villages and towns like Romanèche-Thorins in Burgundy, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a sleeping France to Paris for immediate shipment to all parts of the world. Banners proclaim the good news: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé ! “The New Beaujolais has arrived!” One of the most frivolous and animated rituals in the wine world has begun.
By the time it is over, more than 65 million bottles, nearly half of the region’s total annual production, will be distributed and drunk around the world. It has become a worldwide race to be the first to serve this new wine of the harvest. In doing so, it has been carried by motorcycle, balloon, truck, helicopter, and in the past by Concorde jet, elephant, runners and rickshaws (never by messenger pigeon though) to get it to its final destination. It is amazing to realize that just weeks before this wine was a cluster of grapes in a grower’s vineyard.
Half the fun is of course knowing that on the same night, in homes, cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and bistros around the world the same celebration is taking place.
Well, maybe not as much celebrating going on the world over as in France, but you get the idea. In Toulouse almost the entire downtown is closed off to motor traffic and bars and restaurant, all over the vast network of narrow streets and ally-ways, open their doors for an all night drink-fest. Now if you think red wine can pack a wallop of a next day hangover, imagine the hangover from wine so new it practically tastes green. Yeah, boy let the party begin.
This year the event falls on November 17th and the drinking begins at midnight. I give you plenty of advance notice and invite you all down to participate, since I cannot drink, it will amuse me to taunt you the next day. It’s always all about me, isn’t it…
No comments:
Post a Comment