Beaujolais Nouveau

We are thrilled to be partnering with L'épis Doré in Hazelwood for the Beaujolais Nouveau. Taste this world famous wine with great food and company. L'épis Doré has put together an incredible menu that will pair beautifully with the fruity flavours of the Beaujolais wine. Come with a partner or a friend, and share a bottle.

Tickets R700 for 2 people (includes 1 bottle of Beaujolais nouveau wine, and serving of beautiful platters)

L'épis Doré has put together a scrumptious platter menu to go with the wine:

-        Cold meat and Cheese Boards

-        Goats Cheese and Berry Tartlets

-        Salmon Paté Vol au Vents

-        Pork, Duck and Fig Terrine

-        Mini Quiche Lorraine

-        Mushroom Vol au Vent

-        Cheese Cigars

-        Roast Duck and Orange Crostini

(Bottles of the Beaujolais wine will also be sold on the night - limited stock)

Beaujolais nouveau (BOH-zh?-LAY noo-VOH) is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is the most popular win de primeur, fermented for just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November. Distributors famously race to get the first bottles to different markets around the globe.

History

As far back as the 1800s, Beaujolais growers would gather to celebrate the end of the harvest by toasting the vintage with some of the young wine produced that year. (This is part of the French tradition of vin de primeur, or “early wines”, released in the same year as harvest, which 55 appellations in France are allowed to produce.) During this time, Lyonnais barkeepers and restaurateurs had been in the habit of buying barrels of this new Beaujolais wine, that had been pressed in September and ready to serve in November. The new wine was served via pitchers dipped into barrels. The barrels were sometimes transported simply by floating them down the Saône river. Once the Beaujolais AOC was established in 1937, AOC rules meant that Beaujolais wine could only be officially sold after 15 December in the year of harvest. These rules were relaxed in November 1951, and the Union Interprofessionnelle des Vins du Beaujolais (UIVB) formally set 15 November as the release date for what would henceforth be known as Beaujolais nouveau. In 1985 the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO) established the third Thursday of November to allow for a uniform release date for the wine.

The wine used to be released from France at 12:01 on the third Thursday of November. During the 2000s the release rules started to relax, with the wines shipped ahead of time, and released to local markets at 12:01 a.m. local time. Starting in the 2010s, it started to be sent to retailers ahead of the third Thursday, with instruction not to sell it until the third Thursday.

Some members of the UIVB saw the potential for marketing Beaujolais nouveau by capitalising on fast distribution of the vintage, starting with a race to get the first bottles to Paris. In the 1960s, races from English clubs rewarded the drivers who returned the quickest with the most wine (sometimes resulting in spare tyres being left in Beaujolais). There continued to be more media coverage, and by the 1970s it had become a national event. The races spread to neighbouring countries in Europe in the 1980s, followed by North America, and in the 1990s to Asia. In 1985, the date was changed to the third Thursday in November to take best advantage of marketing in the following weekend.

Up to 1972, New York was the only US city to import Beaujolais nouveau. In 1972, Minneapolis became the second US city to import it; now, it is available in most US metropolis areas, and in many large cities across the globe.