Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé

The Annual Early Release

The following article appeared in the Centre Daily Times in 1999 when the Nouveau release from Beaujolais was restricted to a midnight truck convoy from the producing wineries. Today, the wines are distributed the week before so that the bottles are on the shelves for purchase by the third Thursday in November. When I messaged my friend Nathalie Fraisse this morning she was busy making her onion jam for her party this weekend when she will have 80 guests and will be cooking 160 sausages—16 kilograms or 35 pounds. Bonne chance, Nathalie, and bon appetit!

All eyes are turned to a rural region in France today, to an area that looks similar to the rolling hills of central Pennsylvania except that instead of radiating rows of corn, they have radiating trellises of grapes. The farmers there produce red wine from the Gamay grape—Beaujolais.

The rolling hills of Beaujolais surround the medieval village of Oingt.

Beaujolais is a broad term that includes Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages, and Cru Beaujolais.  A wine that is particularly distinctive and highly esteemed is granted a Cru designation, which means that it is from a particular area.  The twelve different Cru or regions depend on the “terroir”, or earth, for flavor differences in the wine—Brouilly has a plum-like, sturdy finish; Fleurie, flowery overtones; Moulin-a-Vent, tannin, and a  robust structure.  But all are overshadowed by the simplest and most widely known variety, the Beaujolais Nouveau.

The third Thursday in November marks the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau, the first sampling of the current year’s vintage.  It is an event widely heralded across the globe thanks to a marketing ploy that originated toward the end of the 1960’s.  Banners throughout Paris proclaim the news “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé” and many restaurants have special menus that celebrate the simple country-French foods of the region.

In 1992 I had the good fortune to travel to the Beaujolais region with fellow Centre Countians Courtney Confer and Jeanne Murphy for the release.  We stayed with a good friend, Nathalie Longefay Fraisse, at her parents’ ivy-covered farmhouse in the village of St. Lager.  Nearly all of her family makes wine. At that time, both her father and her uncle made Brouilly, their wineries down the road from each other.  Two of her brothers have taken over these operations and continue to do what generations of her family have done.

Michel and Nathalie Fraisse enjoyed a glass of wine in our wine cellar in State College when Michel attended Penn State back in the early 1990’s.

One cousin, Jean Tete, helped his father run the Louis Tete winery that produced Beaujolais Nouveau.  At a dinner held at the cellar for vineyard workers, fellow winemakers and friends, the new year’s vintage, only two months old, was released with fanfare.

Herve Longefay, Nathalie’s brother, and his wife Aleks, are at home in a cellar at the Chateau Briante near St. Lager in 2010. Today Herve operates a restaurant and wine bar, working ceaselessly to promote the wine and food of the region.

One side of the vaulted cellar held long buffet tables loaded with regional specialties, an array of sausages, pates and cheeses.  Salads and breads were arranged around an enormous display of sliced sausage that spelled out “Tete” in mayonnaise rosettes on top.  The fresh and fruity nouveau flowed from small barrels set on a large bar into unlabeled bottles and into short, sturdy glasses.  A jazz band played lively, New Orleans-style music and couples danced on the earthen floor.

Just before midnight the crowd emptied into the courtyard outside.  There, several trucks, plastered with the winery’s label, waited with their motors running and lights blazing.  At the stroke of midnight the trucks roared off with a police escort while the crowd cheered thunderously.  The Beaujolais nouveau was launched!

In the old days, local gendarme accompanied the trucks that left the Tete winery at midnight to deliver the Beaujolais Nouveau.

Other nouveau events in the Beaujolais region included lots of tastings at the wineries, where the hubbub surrounding the release often gave the local winemakers an opportunity to showcase their lesser-known, but better, wines.  At one cooperative, a wooden-shoed, costumed man stood in the street flagging down passers-by and inviting them to try the wine that he kept in a barrel at the curb.  If this sounds reckless, keep in mind that in France, as in other European countries, there is zero tolerance for drinking and driving--you lose your license at the first offense. There was always a designated driver to transport the increasingly jolly imbibers from one event to another.

Jean and Katrin Wolf and Jeanne Murphy enjoy a glass of wine in a cellar in 2010.

The Beaujolais nouveau will arrive in the United States this week. The wine is light and fruity and is a perfect match for Thanksgiving dinner, marrying well with the herbal savoriness of the feast.

November is a perfect time for sausages and this recipe is from my friend Nathalie Fraisse who makes it every year for her Beaujolais Nouveau dinner with friends. Nathalie grew up in Beaujolais, on the vineyard, in a wine-making family and the celebration continues each third Thursday in November. Fresh French saucisson is a combination of pork and beef seasoned with salt, white pepper, and a small amount of fresh garlic. Use any mild sausage that you like. Nathalie serves it with boiled potatoes, onion jam, a green salad, and Beaujolais. Santé!

Sausages and Shallots Cooked in Beaujolais

Serves 4

8 shallots, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 sausages (authentic French garlic sausages, saucisson, are available in gourmet shops or substitute a mild bratwurst)

½ cup Beaujolais

Heat oven to 375°F.  Sauté shallots in hot olive oil in sauté pan.  Add wine when shallots are translucent.  Pierce sausages with a fork and place in a baking dish just large enough to hold them.  Top with wine/shallot mixture.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until heated thoroughly.  Serve with French bread.

Confiture d’Oignon (French Onion Marmalade)

The following recipe is what my friend Nathalie makes every year for her Beaujolais Nouveau release party that she now celebrates in Grenoble, where she lives with her husband, Michel, and three children, Eugenie, Pierre-Adrien, and Amelie. Her menu is always the same — oven-roasted saucisson (fresh pork sausages), boiled potatoes, and this onion jam.

2 tablespoons butter

2 pounds yellow onions, peeled, quartered, and sliced thinly by hand

1 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper

1 cup raw or brown sugar

2 apples (yellow delicious, gala, or other firm apple) peeled, quartered, and cubed or grated

1 and  2/3  cups raisins, golden or dark or a mix

2 cups Beaujolais wine

 1/2  cup red wine vinegar

 1/2  cup Grenadine

Melt the butter in a heavy pot over low heat and add the onions, salt, pepper and sugar and cook, covered, for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Add the apples, raisins, and the three liquids. Cook, uncovered until the mixture is thick and syrupy. Serve warm.

French Mustard Vinaigrette

Makes 2-4 servings

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (Amora or Maille preferred)

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Plan on 2 to 3 ounces of greens per person. Make the dressing in the bottom of the salad bowl and add the crisp, washed greens on top, tossing to coat at serving time, which is after the main course.

French Cheese Platter

Chevre (soft, unripened goat’s milk), St Agur (blue, cow’s milk), and St. Andre (triple crème cow’s milk)

Ripe pears, grapes, apples and figs

Baguettes

I think it’s time for another trip to France to check out Herve’s new venture!