Listen. Is that the faint roll of drumbeats in the distance? Is it getting louder? Yes, it's the nation's wine sellers beginning to raise the annual din over the year's Beaujolais nouveau. By Nov. 20, when the wine makes its debut, the noise will be deafening.
Beaujolais nouveau used to be a local phenomenon, confined to the Beaujolais region of France and the bars and bistros of Lyon and Paris. Now this newly vinified, intensely fruity red, which finished fermenting just a few weeks ago, is an international celebrity, swooping in by jetliner on and after the third Thursday of November.
Most serious wine people look at nouveau wines with a jaded eye. Indeed, Beaujolais nouveau is hardly something that deserves much discussion. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not a very interesting wine, and it has a short shelf life, losing its in-your-face charm within about six months.
The wine is made by carbonic maceration, a technique of blanketing grape clusters with carbon dioxide so that fermentation begins within the berries. In contrast to grapes for regular Beaujolais, they are pressed quickly after fermentation lest the must extracts too much tannin and flavoring from the grape skins. The result is a fresh, grapy, purple quaff that is usually delicious, if simple.
Still, there's some reason to pay attention to the Beaujolais nouveau this season, because the grapes were of superior quality. After a warm, dry summer, the 1997 Beaujolais harvest began astonishingly early, on Aug. 30; the previous record was Aug. 31, 1976, while the average for the last 17 years has been Sept. 12. The producers describe the wines as ronde, gras and voluptueux (round, fat and voluptuous).
The upside of all the hoopla surrounding the debut of this year's nouveau wines is that it draws attention to light, fruity reds, a category that's ideal for November in Southern California, where daytime high temperatures average in the mid-60s. I might add that this style of wine is a perfect companion to roast turkey and its traditional Thanksgiving accompaniment, cranberry sauce.
There are many fruity reds that share Beaujolais nouveau's appealing qualities while offering more flavor interest. First to come to mind is "real" (non-nouveau) Beaujolais from the very good 1996 or 1995 vintages. The '95 Beaujolais were generally quite ripe, full-bodied wines and are holding up nicely. The '96 wines are generally a bit lighter and more acidic. (Incidentally, all but the sturdiest Beaujolais should be drunk at cool cellar temperature, not room temperature. An hour in the refrigerator before serving is usually perfect.)
