Beaujolais Nouveau ….let the holiday season begin!

Aaaahhh nothing signals the start of the holiday season more (other than Christmas lights being hung up the day after Halloween:) than the first sight of Beaujolais Nouveau being displayed in all the stores.

One of my goals this year was to attend the huge “Fête du Beaujolais Nouveau” in Beaujeu, France – the heart of the Beaujolais region….I could not be happier I experienced this event! The Beaujolais region is located right above the famous and beautiful city of Lyon and below the charming little city of Mâcon, France.

The town of Beaujeu host’s this world famous celebration for 5 straight days. By French law, each year’s harvest of Beaujolais nouveau wine cannot be sold before Midnight of the 3rd Thursday of November….so on the 3rd Wednesday of November the festival kicks off and it is an event to experience….it starts at 5:00pm with food, music and of course wine tasting! There is a nice tradition of walking around town between 5:00pm and 11:00pm and tasting 12 individual/unique bottles of wine, one bottle from each of the 12 terroirs of Beaujolais (terroirs means “soil” in french but think regions). The challenge is to guess what year the wine you are drinking was produced?! Some people take the tasting very serious to see how well their palate’s can discern these enjoyable wines…but most enjoy the camaraderie of walking from location to location throughout the town of Beaujeu and sampling all 12 wines and guessing with friends. I have pictures of my before and after official tasting form below…and a few pictures of the wine stops positioned around town.

Beaujeu is 2 hours and 30 minutes by train and bus from Paris. The landscape is simply beautiful…you are surrounded by rolling hills and vineyards the whole time….an incredibly peaceful setting for a true get-away.

Here are a few pictures from my journey to the Fête du Beaujolais Nouveau….mark your calendars for next year’s big vin Fête!!

Gare Lyon – one of 5 major train stations in Paris
Gare Lyon
View from Bus ride to Beaujeu from Belleville
miles and miles of vineyards
The local buses also serve as school buses for the connecting towns.
My B&B in Beaujeu
Courtyard of B&B
Bedroom view
It’s all about the grape in Beaujolais
Les Sarmentelles is the name used in Beaujeu for the Beaujolais Nouveau fête.
(The french word “sarment” means “branch” in english — aka celebrating the branches of the grape vine).
A 5 euro tasting glass in hand and your road map for traversing the town and sampling the 12 major regions of Beaujolais.
1st stop and tasting of the night
My new holy friends…as you can see people dress up and add more fun to the celebration!
wine stop
You’re starting to get a feel of the wine stops – layout….it’s really a nice way to meet people too….nothing like bonding over fermented grapes.
This wine stop was held in one of the town’s museums.
During my wine-hopping I came across the voice of the festival Rogér…Rogér was walking the whole town and broadcasting the entire time over the loud speakers situated throughout the town–providing color-commentary on the big night….he was very good and full of enthusiasm…plus he spoke english and introduced me to the town (over the loud speakers) and said “Jo-seph has travelled from the USA to join us for our grand festival”….”so what do you think” ! There were many countries celebrated this evening in Beaujeu!
Sylvia (Turkish) Peter (French) and Peter’s Father Albert (French): Great Story…Sylvia and Peter met while working in a restaurant in NYC 10 months ago..just got married 30 days ago at NYC’s city hall…Sylvia’s first time meeting Peter’s Dad was tonight at this festival…Sylvia speaks no french, Peter speaks no turkish, they communicate in English-Albert spoke English very well too. I asked them where will they live….Sylvia laughed and said “we don’t know…I want to go back to the US or Turkey and Peter misses home here in France”? They were a really nice and cute couple living spontaneously and off the fumes of love!
The festival dinner was held in Beaujeu’s town theatre hall for 25 euros. The setting was similar to a high school gymnasium with long tables set up for random seating with your group or friends…price included entertainment from a local band and all the wine you could drink.
Albert asked Sylvia to dance as his new daughter….so this was their first dance together as a family…it was a very “endearing” request by Albert!!!
At 11:00pm (after dinner) people gathered for the candle lit parade to the centre of town for the big event of “uncorking” the first barrel of Beaujolais Nouveau 2012′ !!
New friends in Beaujeu…
The parade was easily a quarter mile long…
Let the countdown begin….!!
The Festival Queen is honored…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Games to keep crowd pumped up before clock hits midnight
Seconds before midnight — time to uncork the barrel and taste the 2012′ Beaujolais Nouveau !!
Midnight of Nov 15th 2012′ — Let the Partying Begin !!!!
The sky turned Beaujolais Nouveau Red !!
A 2 story high globe and a 10 foot long 2012′ Beaujolais Nouveau bottle begins pouring 2012′ Beaujolais Nouveau (not real wine) on the world !!! Very Clever Design and impactful live!
Everyone in the world finally tastes this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau!
Everyone in the crowd is poured a glass (or two) of this year’s new batch of red elixir!
Cheers…!!

 

 

 

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