Dallas International School: Globally Inspired. Distinctly Different.
Tomorrow marks Beaujolais Nouveau Day, and if you haven’t heard of this classic French celebration, you’re in for a treat. Beaujolais Nouveau, a red wine from the Beaujolais region made from fruity Gamay grapes, is a vin de primeur, or “early wine.” This means that it is bottled and sold within the year the grapes are harvested, instead of being aged for an extensive period of time. Older wines, which have aged for several years, are often more prestigious—just think about any scene in a movie where the wine snob orders the 1953 Dom Pérignon, or the Château Latour ’45. These wines are prized for their depth and complexity, and can fetch a premium; after all, there is a lot of time, space, and expertise invested in producing them.
Vins de primeur, or vins nouveaux, are the opposite, as they tend to be simple, uncomplicated, and affordable; here for a good time, not a long one. Beaujolais Nouveau is only aged for six to eight weeks, and meant to be consumed within six months. With notes of cherry and raspberry, and almost no tannins, it demands little from its drinkers in terms of sophisticated palates and oenological expertise. Which is why it’s meant to be enjoyed in abundance with friends and neighbors at the end of the busy harvest season.
Beaujolais Nouveau Day, which is always the third Thursday of November, began with local celebrations at the end of the vendage (grape harvest) sometime around the 1800s. From the 1950s, however, the release of each year’s Beaujolais Nouveau turned into something of a spectator sport, with distributors racing to deliver the new vintage to Paris, where it could be legally sold as of 12:01 AM on Beaujolais Nouveau Day. This turned into a massive marketing stunt, which familiarized generations of French people with this humble regional beverage. The result is a sort of fond, kitschy remembrance, akin to how some might feel about a bottle of Manischewitz at Passover, or a shot of Malört with a Cubs game on in the background.
Beaujolais Nouveau has certainly not stuck to its native soil, though. For those who find themselves in a very different kind of wine country this November, we’ve got a guide from Mariam Rubalcava to all the best Beaujolais Nouveau Day celebrations across California. And as Mariam notes, Beaujolais Nouveau pairs serendipitously well with many Thanksgiving dishes, so you might as well grab a few bottles now to have around for next week.
One other thing it pairs excellently with? Le Gruyère AOP, one of my all-time favorite cheeses. In honor of the start of fondue season, I’ve published an explainer to this beloved Swiss cheese, and how to make sure you’re buying the real thing. Tomorrow you can find me snacking on a block of it, alongside a bottle of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2024.
Where I’m eating…
Speaking of Gruyère, I recently enjoyed the all-time cheesiest French onion soup of my life at the recently reopened Le Jardin Bistro. This beloved Manhattan staple served French bistro classics from 1997 to 2010, and has finally returned to the Lower East Side. The new space is homey and charming, filled with vintage posters straight off the Rue d’Arcole in Paris, and an abundance of glittering chandeliers. The staff, under the vivacious influence of General Manager Jonathan Torres, work hard to create a warm, welcoming environment where you want to let the champagne keep pouring all night.
You’ll want to start off with a balanced apps selection of the rich, rib-sticking soupe d’oignon (which is at least 50% cheese) and a fresh, perfectly piquant salade frisée aux lardons. From there, you can’t go wrong with the plats, though the carré d’agneau is excellent, and the pink peppercorn sauce on the magret de canard is a lovely surprise. And don’t miss out on Torres’ cocktail menu, especially the wonderfully autumnal “Quincidence Parfaite.”
