My second day at the new office coincided with the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau, which takes place on the third Thursday in November. In most offices around the country, if not the world, the day was like any other day. But, at the wine importer’s office, which represents a large Beaujolais producer, it was a day to celebrate. At lunch, the entire office was treated to a catered lunch, along with, of course, a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau. After we had enjoyed our meal, a drawing was held with various wine-themed items raffled off. For those who were unsuccessful in the raffle, there was no need to despair as all employees were sent home with a parting gift – a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau! It was certainly a fun kick-off to my tenure at the company.

Beaujolais Nouveau hails from, you guessed it, Beaujolais, which lies at the southern end of Burgundy. While other Burgundian communes focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Beaujolais is a bastion of the Gamay grape. Beaujolais Nouveau, as opposed to Beaujolais, is unique because the wine is from the current vintage – in this case 2008 – and follows an extremely fast turn-around time from grape to glass.

It is primarily produced via carbonic maceration, which is an interesting twist on standard fermentation. In carbonic maceration, the grapes are loaded into fermentation vessels and sealed under a layer of CO2, hence carbonic. The grapes begin to macerate and undergo intracellular fermentation, fermenting within the skins before being crushed and pressed into wine. Concurrently, due to the weight, grapes at the bottom of the vessel become crushed and start regular fermentation, reacting with the natural yeasts found on the bloom of the grape. The resulting wines are fresh, fruity and meant to be drunk young.

Georges Duboeuf, the largest producer of Beaujolais Nouveau, is credited with marketing the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon in the U.S. It’s a good deal for the producers who can use the cash flow for their activities much sooner than the usual production period. For consumers, it is a great excuse to be festive in the graying days of late Fall.

Beaujolais Nouveau has its detractors, but it certainly doesn’t claim to be a serious or complex wine; there simply isn’t time for the wine to develop any complexity, given its nascence. Frankly, I think that sometimes we all need to just sip without a major thought process involved.

More credible criticism is the carbon footprint that transporting Beaujolais Nouveau to the U.S. via plan entails. Some producers are becoming cognizant of the impact this has on the environment and lobbied (and received) special dispensation from the Beaujolais wine authority to ship the wine via boat instead, necessitating a release three weeks prior to the authorized date. Others have replaced their glass bottles with plastic, which does significantly reduce their weight, but apparently not enough to make-up for the use of aircraft. At least they are trying and I’m sure that greater steps will be taken next year.