Think NOUVEAU!

It's the Holiday Season. With smells of burned pumpkin still lingering in memory, our thoughts are turning to the great end of the season feasts and celebrations. In addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas, we enjoy the celebrations of harvest.

Wine lovers are always relieved to hear that grape growers have done battle with all the season's climatic monsters and that the prospect of unlimited amounts of all their favorite wines will soon become a reality. The sad fact is that the string of stellar vintages in California (1990-1997) took a hit with the 1998 crop.

The good news is that it's time again to celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau. This is a strictly seasonal wine, released during the third week of November and happily quaffed until the supply dries up several months later. It's delicious. It's festive. And it's cheap.

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is one of the most confusing of all wine terms. And, by the way, it's "bo-zho-lay" not "boo-zho-lay." Here's what it can mean:

1. A region in France, south of Burgundy.
2. Any wine from that region. (They're all red and made from Gamay grapes)
3. A medium-light bodied red wine from the Beaujolais region, vinted in the normal way and meant to be consumed within the first couple years of its life.
4. A freshly made wine from the Beaujolais region, bottled immediately after fermentation and meant to be consumed within three months of bottling.
5. A clone of the Pinot Noir grape.
6. A medium-light red California wine made mostly from Gamay grapes.

Still confused? You're not alone. Even California winemakers aren't always sure what their industry buddies are putting into bottles labed "Gamay Beaujolais." Is it Napa Gamay? Valdiguie? Pinot Noir? A blend? Well, the U.S. government is going to try to unconfuse you by eliminating the terms Beaujolais and Gamay from California wine labels. The wines made from what we used to call Gamay will be labelled Valdiguie. And "Beaujolais" will have to come from France. There. Isn't that better?

Gamay (or Beaujolais) wines are made in two styles: an early-drinking, light, fruity wine called "nouveau" or "primeau;" and a more serious, traditional red wine called Gamay, Valdiguie, or Beaujolais. Beaujolais Nouveau is associated with harvest celebrations, as it is the first wine of every vintage to be released.

Beaujolais Nouveau

Beaujolais Nouveau is unlike all other wines. It's explosively aromatic, not with the deep perfume of aged wines, but with a bouquet of fresh fruit. It's light. Very light. It's perfect with light fare; sandwiches, hamburgers, picnics. It's very low in tannin. Acids are rarely high, but the fresh fruit flavors give the wine a pleasant brightness on the palate. It's always inexpensive because it is not aged in oak barrels. It goes directly from the fermentation tanks to the bottling line. Typical prices for either French or California versions will be well under $10. And with the best examples so affordable, don't waste your time or money on inferior labels. And - above all - don't even think about buying last year's wines; you'll probably pour them down the drain.

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