Beaujolais Nouveau Day has come and gone. This annual semi-holiday celebrates the new release of a wine produced extremely quickly after harvest and I like it for that reason alone. Making wine is a lengthy process that starts not at harvest, but much earlier – from the first swell of buds on the vine. Accordingly, being able to literally taste the fruits of such labor only a few months post-harvest is a wonderful opportunity to rejoice.

While a variety of Nouveau events were held as usual this year, I only attended the Compagnons du Beaujolais Beaujolais Crus tasting. Equally festive, the Compagnons du Beaujolais had donned their official regalia, complete with tastevins hung around their necks, having ushered in the Nouveau wine earlier in the day.

But, now, it was time to taste the more serious Gamay. It was a pleasure to taste through the various crus (best village sites) including Brouilly, Julienas, Morgon and Fleurie as well as being able to compare different vintages –2009, 2010 and 2011. The wines showed quite nicely and I found a few that I particularly liked such as the Morgon Cuvée les Roches 2011 from Château du Chatelard, although I didn’t take any formal notes.

In a similar vein, there are a few other wineries that choose to produce a wine that hits the market soon after harvest. Macari Vineyards’ Early Wine falls into this category. Produced from 100% Chardonnay, the grapes for the 2012 vintage were picked on August 29 and quickly pressed and fermented with the wine finding its way into bottle on October 22. With its November 1 release, I received the wine about two weeks before Nouveau Day.

I chose to open my bottle on the day before the Nouveau celebrations (Beaujolais Nouveau Eve?) as a way to kick off the celebratory spirit of these wines. Showing pronounced floral, peach and tropical fruit notes, the wine was slightly off-dry with balanced acidity and flavors of pineapple, floral and a slight hint of spice. Despite its fall arrival, the Early Wine can be enjoyed year round, especially during the summer (if there’s any left by then – only 422 cases were made).