Beaujolais Nouveau 2024: A Celebration of Freshness and Tradition

Beaujolais Nouveau is a lively, youthful wine from southern Burgundy, designed to be enjoyed fresh within six months of its release, bottled and ready to drink just weeks after harvest.

Most red wines are aged for a period in barrel or bottle before release, but Beaujolais Nouveau is different. This fresh, fruity wine from southern Burgundy is sold and enjoyed just weeks after it is produced each autumn, traditionally in the third week of November.

What Makes Beaujolais Nouveau Unique?

Produced from the Gamay grape, Beaujolais Nouveau undergoes a technique known as carbonic maceration, where whole grape clusters are placed in a sealed tank filled with carbon dioxide, which initiates fermentation inside the grapes before they are crushed. This process helps to extract fruity flavours and aromas while softening tannins, resulting in a light, juicy wine. This innovative method enhances the wine’s fresh, fruity notes while softening its tannins, resulting in an approachable, juicy profile with flavours of banana, candy floss, cherry and a hint of bubble gum. It’s the perfect wine for celebrating the new vintage, enjoyed straight from the vineyards of southern Burgundy.

Celebrating Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Every third Thursday in November, Beaujolais Nouveau is released worldwide at 12:01 am, kicking off a tradition that dates back decades. What started as a local toast to the end of the harvest has transformed into a global celebration, largely thanks to winemaker Georges Duboeuf, who popularised the Beaujolais race in the 1970s. Today, Beaujolais Nouveau Day is filled with parties, parades and tastings world-wide, but particularly in the villages of Beaujolais, where the festivities signify the end of harvest.

Drinking Beaujolais Nouveau
To enjoy Beaujolais Nouveau at its finest, serve it slightly chilled – around 12 to 14°C. This ideal temperature enhances its lively flavours, making it a perfect companion for charcuterie or cheese boards. While it's best enjoyed within the first six months, you can still extend your enjoyment a little, turning it into a great summer red for al fresco dining.

Beaujolais Nouveau 2024 at Majestic
For a fourth year in a row, we’re looking forward to the return of Domaine Pardon’s Beaujolais Nouveau, made in the heart of Beaujolais at a family estate with over two centuries of winemaking history. Produced by brothers Eric and Jean-Marc Pardon, this wine reflects the granite-rich soils of Beaujeu, delivering a burst of redcurrant and strawberry with a floral hint. Domaine Pardon’s Beaujolais Nouveau is made without oak ageing, allowing the pure, fresh fruit flavours to shine through.

This year's vintage promises to be as popular as ever, so be sure to add it to your basket early. We sold out of it in record time last year, so don’t hesitate to add it to your basket soon after release!

Due to French law, we can't sell this wine until 00:01 on Thursday 21st November. If you include this in your order before then, we will have it ready on this date.

Shop our range of Beaujolais wines now

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