2009 Beaujolais Nouveau

The Beaujolais Nouveau celebration at the French Embassy is always a lot of fun. This year it was sponsored by the French American Chamber of Commerce of Washington DC and featured the wine of Georges Duboeuf.

My apologies for the poor pictures, the battery in my camera died so I had to use my cell phone. Tom Willcox has some great pictures of the event.

In addition to good wine, the night featured some great French cheeses, sausages, pates and fabulous desserts. The Maison Francaise was packed with people and everyone had a great time!

Beaujolais Harvest

Decanter has another great video on their site talking about the Beaujolais Harvest:



Pictures from the harvest here.

More details about the harvest here.

Beaujolais Nouveau will be November 19th this year.

Review: 2008 Domaine Manoir Du Carra

Wine: 2008 Domaine Manoir Du Carra Beaujolais Nouveau



Review: Normally I like my wines a little bit of depth, but there is something compelling about a good Beaujolais Nouveau that sucks me in. Maybe its because I buy into the Beaujolais Nouveau hype, or maybe the wines are really that good. This year Lucinda, at the Wine Seller, recommended Domaine Manoir Du Carra and it was an excellent suggestion.

The wine was a light amethyst color and the taste matched the color. It had a very fruity aroma with hints of cherry and peaches and was very light on the palette. An easy, refreshing, wine.

Price: $15

Grade: 90

Thanksgiving Wine

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without 2605 articles about what wine to serve with Thanksgiving dinner.

My favorite article this time around is this one which advocates for Beaujolais Nouveau:

All of our experts seem to be amateur drunks, so we consulted professional wine pushers for the skinny on the best bottles to buy as gifts. The word of the day is Beaujolais, a young wine released yearly just before Thanksgiving. Jai Jai Greenfield of Harlem Vintage says they always try to include Beaujolais in their Thanksgiving Six Pack, a collection of wines designed to take you from the arrival of the first guests to dessert and beyond. Dan Weber of Williamsburg's UVA Wines recommends Terres Dorees L'Ancien Beaujolais Villes Vignes ($18), explaining, "It's a relatively light-bodied red, with strong accents of dark cherry fruit and a good acidity that, after all that food, cuts through. People will find it compelling."

Whatever wine you choose, I hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving!

Beaujolais Not-so-Nouveau

Speaking of Beaujolais Nouveau, the DC chapter of the French Wine Society is hosting a Beaujolais Not-so-Nouveau Festival Happy Hour tonight. It looks like fun, I won't be there, but if you go drink a glass for me!

Happy Beaujolais Nouveau

Happy Beaujolais Nouveau, make sure you drink a toast to good cheap wine!

Don't forget tomorrow is Beaujolais Nouveau! If you are in the DC area you can head out to the Park at 14th and celebrate with free wine. I'll be there as well...please feel free to look me up if you come out.

WWAs for this weekend:

1. Alliance Francaise is celebrating Beaujolais Nouveau a day late with a wine and cheese party


2. Also on Friday, The Wine Specialist is offering a tasting of wines from Barboursville


3. On Saturday, Pearmund Cellars is having their Beast Feast


4. Saturday and Sunday Veramar Vineyards will be hosting their holiday open house

I'll be at Veramar :). Whatever you do, have fun!