By Simon Taylor, Stroud Wine Company
Being driven around as a child in the 1970’s was pretty bonkers.
Responsible and loving parents thought nothing of cramming you and at least eight of your schoolmates on top of each other on the back seat – or even in the boot – of a Ford Cortina and driving you to wherever you needed to go.
This journey elicited shrieks not of terror but unbridled joyous laughter and seatbelts, seatbelts? Well, they were an abstract concept not a law.
However, if there was one thing your parents or Grandparents loved more than driving around at top speed with a car full of kids; it was driving around at top speed with a car full of Beaujolais Nouveau wine with the sole aim of being the first to get it from France back to the UK. They enjoyed doing this so much that by the 1980’s helicopters, light aircraft, an RAF Harrier Jump Jet and even Concord were deployed to increase the fun.
How did a light, fruity, easy drinking wine unfairly dismissed by wine snobs make this happen?
Beaujolais Nouveau is produced in an appellation of the Burgundy region of France where traditionally the wine (made almost exclusively from the Gamay grape) was produced quickly for the locals to celebrate the end of harvest.
By the early 1950s its popularity had grown so much that it became officially recognised and French law decreed that it was to be released on the third Thursday of November. Voila! ‘Beaujolais Day’ was born.
In the beginning restaurateurs and bar owners in Paris competed to be the first to serve Beaujolais Nouveau to their thirsty customers to the refrains of ‘Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!’ but on the 18th November 1970 two Englishmen; restaurateur and wine critic Joseph Berkmann and his guest Clement Freud MP had a madcap idea over a very boozy dinner at a hotel in Burgundy.
Over the course of the evening a wager was set and shortly after midnight both drove away at speed in their respective cars (almost definitely not wearing seatbelts) with cases of Beaujolais clinking on the back seat to see who could get to London first.
The annual ‘Beaujolais Run’ had begun. The competition has been run every year since, in modern times for registered charities attracting a host of celebrity and professional drivers including Formula One legends Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Stirling Moss and still continues to this day.
Is the wine any good? In a word; yes. All grapes must be hand harvested by law to preserve freshness and the wine is fermented using the carbonic maceration method (in layman’s terms a way to ferment that highlights fruit flavours without extracting harsh tannins). It has a unique flavour profile usually with lots of fruit forward ripe red berries, sometimes with subtle ‘bubble-gum’ notes, very soft tannins, refreshing acidity and is delicious served slightly chilled with soft cheeses, white meats and other charcuterie. This is a seriously fun wine.
Stroud Wine Company will be celebrating Beaujolais Nouveau Day once again on Friday 21st November at our shop in Withey’s Yard from 6pm until 9pm where we will offer you a glass of the new 2025 vintage to enjoy plus the opportunity to try a couple of other wines from the region for only £6 per person. This is always a very popular event so although booking is not necessary, it is advisable via our website or in person at either of our shops and we hope you can join us as we say ‘Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!’
Click HERE to find out more about The Stroud Wine Company
VISIT OUR WITHEYS YARD SHOP
5 Witheys Yard,
55 High Street,
Stroud,
Gloucestershire
GL5 1AS
VISIT OUR GRIFFIN MILL SHOP
Unit 4,
Griffin Mill,
London Rd.
Stroud,
GL5 2AZ
