Wine Education with Winephabet Street - B is for Beaujolais

In June I partnered with Lori Budd of Dracaena Wines to bring you some quick at times witty wine education and began with the letter A for Albarino. In July we brought you the letter B for Beaujolais. Now Beaujolais is not only referred to as a wine, but it is a wine region in France.

In case you missed our conversation about Beaujolais and the Gamay grape, you can watch it below or listen to it as a podcast.

It's fun and we explore:

• The general characteristics of the grape / region
• The history of the grape / region
• Food and wine pairings
• 5 quick facts
• What Beaujolais is in our glass.

Plus you'll get to listen to my dog Summer howl throughout the entire video or podcast. Now I know what goes on when nobody is home.

I hope you enjoy it and join us Monday, August 21 at 8pm as we explore the Letter C - for Carmenere. You can register for the Letter C - for Carmenere here.

Listen to Winephabet Street Podcast 

Winephabet Street B is for Beaujolais

Join Lori and me Monday evening at 8pm for the July edition of Winephabet Street.  This month we explore Beaujolais. What is Beaujolais?  We will explore

• The general characteristics of Beaujolais
• The history of the grape variety
• Food and wine pairings
• 5 quick facts about the variety
• What Beaujolais we are drinking.

Grab a glass of wine, even better if it's a Beaujolais and join us. You can register here for the webinar.

It's Beaujolais Nouveau Day!

Once a year on the third Thursday in November Beaujolais Nouveau is released.  It's the first wine of the years vintage.  Beaujolais is made from Gamay Noir grapes that grow extremely well in the granite soils of the Beaujolais region of France.  Beaujolais wines are intended for early consumption, so don't age them.

The Beaujolais Nouveau will typically exhibit bright red fruit aromas and flavors that are a result of carbonic maceration which is whole berry fermentation.  This produces exceptionally fruity, low tannin wines with a vivid purply-ruby color that can be ready to drink right after fermentation is complete.  These wines are then bottled and released the third Thursday in November.  (They go great with your Thanksgiving turkey)

Here are some facts on Beaujolais

• Beaujolais Nouveau is always released the third Thursday of November, regardless of when harvest began.
• The Beaujolais region in France is 34 miles long and 7 miles wide.  There are close to 4,000 grape growers who make a living in this region.
• All the grapes in the region must be picked by hand.
• Gamay is the only grape permitted for Beaujolais.  Gamay from other regions of the world will taste quite different due to their growing conditions and soils.
• Beaujolais Nouveau cannot be made from the grapes grown in the 10 crus of Beaujolais.  Nouveau can only come from the appellations of Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages.
• Approximately 1/3 of the crop in the Beaujolais region is sold as Beaujolais Nouveau.
• Serve Beaujolais Nouveau sightly cooled at about 55 degrees.  The wine is more refreshing and the fruit more expressive if served this way rather than room temperature.