Beaujolais Nouveau: the wine we celebrate before it grows old

Every year, on the third Thursday of November, half the world uncorks the same wine at the same time. In bars in Paris, Tokyo and New York you hear the same phrase: “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!”, the new Beaujolais has arrived. This year the date is Thursday 19 November. But what is it about such a young wine that turns it into a celebration?

A wine that doesn't wait

Beaujolais Nouveau is a red wine from the Beaujolais region, south of Burgundy, made from the Gamay grape. It is a vin de primeur: a wine of the year, harvested at the end of summer and in the glass just a few weeks later. Only 6 to 8 weeks pass between harvest and bottling.

It doesn't aim for the complexity of a great reserva, nor is it meant to be cellared for years. Its charm is just the opposite: it is the first snapshot of the vintage, the wine that tells us how the harvest went before anyone else.

From cellar custom to a fixed date

Local growers were toasting with the new wine long before there were any rules. When the Beaujolais appellation was created in 1937, wine could only be sold from 15 December. In 1951 the rule was relaxed and 15 November became the release date. Since 1985, so that everyone plays by the same rules, the official date has been the third Thursday of November.

Beaujolais Nouveau is not for keeping: it is for celebrating.

The magic of carbonic maceration

The secret of its style lies in how it is made. Instead of crushing the grapes, whole bunches go into a tank filled with carbon dioxide. Without oxygen, each berry begins to ferment from the inside, with its skin intact. This is what we call carbonic maceration.

The result is a purple-hued wine, very fruity and low in tannin, with those unmistakable aromas of strawberry, raspberry, banana and even strawberry candy. An easy, cheerful wine to drink without fuss.

This technique isn't exclusive to France: in the Canary Islands we also have young carbonic-maceration reds, and anyone who knows them will notice a family resemblance.

Fashion or tradition?

In the 1980s Beaujolais Nouveau became a worldwide phenomenon, with marketing campaigns and races to serve the first bottle. Such success had its downside: many people began to see all Beaujolais as a simple wine, when the region also makes serious wines for ageing, such as those from its ten crus (Morgon, Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent, among others).

It is still a phenomenon today: in the 2025 campaign some 13.8 million bottles of Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages Nouveau were sold, 21% of everything the region sells, in more than 100 countries. And the leading market isn't France but Japan, with 1.8 million bottles.

My view as a sommelier: it is both. It is a fashion that has been well used, yes, but built on a genuine tradition of growers celebrating their work. And more and more producers are making Nouveau with great care, which is well worth discovering.

How to enjoy it

• Slightly chilled: serve it at around 13 °C. A red like this at room temperature loses all its charm.
• Drink it soon: it is meant to be enjoyed in the months after its release. It doesn't improve with age.
• With simple food: cold cuts, mild cheeses, a charcuterie board, roast chicken or a pizza. Nothing that overpowers it.
• No ceremony: it is a wine for sharing and toasting, not for analysing for half an hour.

Our own new wine

Beaujolais Nouveau always reminds me of our November traditions in the Canary Islands: opening the new wine on Saint Martin's Day, with chestnuts and friends. Deep down it is the same thing: celebrating the harvest before the wine grows up.

And you? Will you open a bottle on 19 November, or do you prefer the local new wine?

Iván Monreal Somm. Culture, history and passion for wine.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Beaujolais nouveau” · Lyon Mag, “Beaujolais Nouveau 2026: rendez-vous le 19 novembre”

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