Beaujolais Nouveau Has Landed For The Holidays

Beaujolais Nouveau has landed for the holidays, and I celebrated with a bottle, given to me for free by Georges DuBoeuf, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Beaujolais Nouveau Day happens the third Thursday of November and it's a big deal in the wine world.

This international wine event celebrates the first release of Beaujolais wine from the latest harvest. The gamay grapes used to make it undergo a brief fermentation process with no aging. The wine is not meant for you to age either but consume immediately. Make sure you put a little chill on it too.

Under French law, the wine can only be released at 12:01 a.m. and when the clock strikes, corks are pulled or in this case caps are unscrewed around the world.

I had my bottle ready to go and took a funny video of me trying to wait for the clock and respect the tradition. Here it is for a chuckle:

It didn't work. I just could not stay up until 12:01 so I gave up and celebrated at a more respectable hour for a morning radio host. Here we go again after a good night's sleep.

First, a word about Georges DuBoeuf. He is often called the “Pope of Beaujolais” for his role in popularizing Beaujolais Nouveau globally. You won't be able to go into any grocer or wine retailer today without seeing bottles of this one in special displays and on endcaps.

His 2025 Beaujolais Nouveau is a little more layered than I remember from last year. It is light, with young red fruits and a bit of spice on the finish. This makes me think of turkey, cranberries and dressing. It's not complicated or complex, just fun.

It's a wine that I almost always have on a Thanksgiving table. In fact, when Beaujolais Nouveau Day hits, that is when I'm officially ready for the holidays. Buy a couple ($15.99) and keep them on hand this season. Cheers the Beaujolais and the holidays