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For U.S. foodies, Thanksgiving is the big holiday in November. But for wine lovers, another holiday arrives a week beforehand: Beaujolais Nouveau Day, which falls on the third Thursday of the month each year.
A modern and now-global occasion, Nouveau Day celebrates the region’s vins de primeur: fresh wines that are produced and enjoyed locally soon after harvest, as part of or in anticipation of a meal. This tradition of enjoying young, simple yet cheerful wines exists across Europe; in France, examples come from across the country—from the Rhône to the Loire—but Beaujolais’ Nouveau is the only one that has exploded from a feature of local culture to a worldwide phenomenon.
“It’s a pleasure to make each year’s Nouveau to celebrate the vintage just a few weeks after harvest,” said Aurélien Duboeuf, the latest generation at his family’s Maison Georges Duboeuf, which helped popularize Nouveau globally.
The pre-Thanksgiving timing has endeared the release of Nouveau to many holiday-ready Americans seeking affordable, easy-to-enjoy wines to put out with the feast. For the wine-serious, these early-release wines can provide an advance peek at what to expect from Beaujolais’ higher-end wines to come later.
What Was the 2023 Vintage Like in Beaujolais?
The 2023 harvest began, as is usual, on Sept. 1, following a difficult August that brought a heat wave, then hail damage in spots, then more heat that damaged younger vines and those planted at lower elevations. The temperatures put harvest on a rapid timeline, giving growers a sense of urgency to get the Gamay grapes off the vines to avoid excessive ripening. The resulting wines do have a bit more heft than the average Nouveau.
Picking concluded by the third week of September and, despite the difficult lead-up to harvest, Sylvain Tête at Domaine du Clos du Fief is enthusiastic about the quality of the vintage. “Our old vines were able to keep their freshness,” he said. “Compared to 2021, there’s maybe more finesse and even better balance.”
However, crop size is down substantially in certain vineyard areas that were hit particularly badly by hail. Mathieu Mélinand of Domaine des Marrans said his yields were similar to those of 2022, a vintage also marked by summer hail that caused a nearly 50 percent loss of the fruit in their vineyard in the Fleurie cru.
The logistical effort required to get these wines from vine to the point of sale is considerable at the best of times, but recent years have brought headache after headache: COVID-19 closures, a dramatic rise in tariffs on wine imported from France and supply-chain issues.
Despite these challenges, this year seems to be proceeding more smoothly, especially as more wineries were able to make Nouveau than in 2022, when yields were so low across the map that producers needed to save the fruit to make enough of their standard Beaujolais AOC wines. We managed to get our hands on eight Nouveau wines to blind taste for this report. The top scorer was the Domaine du Clos du Fief Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau La Roche (88 points, $19), followed by two other wines from the Beaujolais-Villages AOC, which covers 38 villages in the northern half of the Beaujolais region.
How Is Beaujolais Nouveau Made?
To get bottles in the hands of eager consumers for Nouveau’s scheduled debut, winemakers need to execute a quick turnaround from harvest to bottling. Made from the Gamay grape, Beaujolais Nouveau famously owes its style to carbonic maceration—a gentle method of fermentation that produces light and fruity wines; instead of being crushed, whole grape bunches are placed in the tank with carbon dioxide and fermentation begins inside the berries. In practice, winemakers more commonly use a hybrid, “semi-carbonic” approach that begins with a short carbonic maceration, after which the juice undergoes conventional fermentation with yeasts. Georges Duboeuf’s Nouveau zipped through the entire process in eight days and was bottled on Oct. 9, landing in the United States less than three weeks later.
What’s the Difference Between Nouveau and Cru Beaujolais?
Ten villages in Beaujolais, each with their own distinctive terroirs, are permitted to produce wines labeled with the village name; each of these crus produces wine with characteristics distinctive from each other. These Gamay bottlings, which represent the best quality the region has to offer, have become the darlings of sommeliers looking for more affordable, accessible alternatives to the Pinot Noirs produced by Beaujolais’ northern neighbors in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. It’s worth also exploring cru bottlings from the wineries reviewed below, as a number of them have earned outstanding scores in recent tastings.
Wine Spectator website members: Looking for more great wines from Beaujolais? Get our scores and tasting notes for recently rated Beaujolais.
When and How Should Beaujolais Be Drunk?
Wine lovers thirsty for fresh Nouveau to pour during their Thanksgiving feasts have it right: These wines are food-friendly and best enjoyed within a few months, so buy and drink now.
The very best of the Beaujolais cru wines have the stuffing to benefit from short-term aging, especially those from villages known for sturdier styles, such as Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent.
Both Beaujolais Nouveau and cru wines are most enjoyable with a slight chill, so pop your bottle in the fridge shortly before drinking. As these fruity red wines tend to be light- to medium-bodied, and not overly acidic, tannic or oaky, they stand up well to the wide range of foods on the holiday table—whether that’s a mild poultry dish like Thanksgiving turkey, sweet-tart cranberry sauce or spicy or sweet side dishes.
At Bar Boulud, the New York bistro from Lyon-born French chef Daniel Boulud, Beaujolais wines are often highlighted. Head sommelier Victoria Taylor recommends Nouveau as an aperitif and then, for the meal, to “turn to a Beaujolais cru like Brouilly or Fleurie to add a bit of depth and complexity, without losing any freshness.”
Below are our ratings and tasting notes for eight Nouveau wines to enjoy this holiday season!
2023 Beaujolais Nouveau Reviews
DOMAINE DU CLOS DU FIEF
Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau La Roche 2023
Score: 88 | $19
WS review: This offers a pretty mix of sandalwood, hibiscus and maraschino cherry fruit flavors, with a good zip of fresh acidity through the finish. Drink now. 2,000 cases made, 400 cases imported.—James Molesworth
GEORGES DUBOEUF
Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2023
Score: 87 | $17
WS review: Maraschino cherry and loganberry fruit has substance in this version, while slightly tangy acidity keeps it moving along through the violet-tinged finish. Drink now. 2,012 cases imported.—J.M.
DOMAINE DE LA MADONE
Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2023
Score: 87 | $17
WS review: Notes of iris, damson plum and black cherry glide through in this version, backed by a faint kiss of sandalwood on the finish. Drink now. 3,000 cases made, 600 cases imported.—J.M.
DOMAINE DUPEUBLE
Beaujolais Nouveau 2023
Score: 86 | $22
WS review: Light-bodied loganberry and plum pâte de fruit notes are backed by perky acidity and a whiff of sandalwood. Drink now. 1,024 cases imported.—J.M.
JEAN-PAUL BRUN
Beaujolais Nouveau Terres Dorées l’Ancien Vieilles Vignes 2023
Score: 85 | $19
WS review: Effusive cherry fruit has a Smucker’s edge to it, with a zip of red licorice on the open-knit back end. Drink now. 7,000 cases made, 670 cases imported.—J.M.
GEORGES DUBOEUF
Beaujolais Nouveau 2023
Score: 85 | $15
WS review: This is pretty, with hibiscus and cherry notes streaming through, showing a potpourri hint on the slightly trim finish. Drink now. 51,345 cases imported.—J.M.
GEORGES DUBOEUF
Beaujolais Nouveau Rosé 2023
Score: 84 | $15
WS review: Very light, with rose petal and strawberry core notes flecked with a touch of savory. Drink now. 1,755 cases imported.—J.M.
DOMAINE DES MARRANS
Beaujolais Nouveau 2023
Score: 84 | $20
WS review: Fresh and open-knit, offering rather light damson plum and cherry notes, followed by a savory twinge at the end. Drink now. 2,000 cases made, 400 cases imported.—J.M.
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