Like every year the tradition of uncorking the new harvest of Beaujolais on the 3 rd Thursday of November continued on 18 th November when this year's edition rolled out in 122 locations in Beaujolais and several places in France and indeed all over the world. Produced from Gamay, sweeter but slightly smaller country cousins of the signature Pinot Noir grapes of Burgundy , they make a light and fruity wine .

Harvesting of the grapes is done in August-end to mid September, earlier than in Burgundy . Using carbonic maceration technique of fermentation, the process is accelerated and is complete in a week. After bottling, storing and racing against the clock, the wine is made available throughout the world for uncorking on the third Thursday of November. The ritual of uncorking is carried out with much fanfare. Traditionally 50-60% of wine s from this region are Nouveau, to be consumed before the next spring. This tradition was set centuries ago to help farmers release some of the tied up finances quickly, but was internationalized after the Second World War. The wine is light, and has to be drunk without expecting too many complexities. If you have a bottle from the last year's vintage, it is already past its prime. But it does offer a value-for-money wine, easy on the palate and quite quaffable.

Delhi has seen many such fiestas and parties in 5-star hotels, spearheaded by the French Embassy and Air France. There has been a definite decline in the interest for such rituals, though. The Taj Mahal Hotel had a celebratory party with wines from Albert Bichot last Thursday whereas Air-France and the French Embassy are celebrating on Monday, the 22 nd November at the Imperial Hotel, breaking the tradition of uncorking the first bottle in the 3 rd Thursday ( a decree by the Beaujolais Appellation forbids opening the Nouveau before this date). I have had the pleasure of tasting wines from this Domaine for the last three years. 2002 was a poor vintage because of excessive rains in August. Last year's scorching heat made the wine very fruity and luscious. This year also had rains in August but September turned very hot and the sugar content and acidity was better balanced. So the wine may not be as good as 2003 but quite pleasant to taste. One could taste bananas and strawberries with good mouth feel. At any rate, one does not look for elegance; it is essentially fun and simple wine.

While at the subject, I should mention that there is a slightly better version, called Beaujolais Villages . The vines for these wine s grow in 38 communes and make up for about 30% of the total wine production in Beaujolais . These wine s are also sold as Beaujolais Villages Nouveau. They improve with age and are best drunk within 2-3 years depending upon the vintage. The top of the range are, of course, Cru Beaujolais. These are from specifically earmarked parcels in select vineyards that produce better grapes with controlled yields and are stored for 6 months or more before release. They improve with age for 2-5 years. The producers are allowed not to use ‘ Beaujolais ' on the bottle and are allowed using the name of the village only. Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Côte-de-Brouilly, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin à Vent, Régnié, and Saint Amour form the 10 Beaujolais Crus that are the jewels in Beaujolais ' crown.. Connoisseurs wait for the spring following the harvest before tasting them.

The Cru Beaujolais are great value-for-money wines that do not burn a hole in your pocket and yet can be enjoyed as aperitifs or with food. For example, you may find a Nouveau for US $6-9, Villages for $ 8-12. A cru at $ 13-16 can be the best value for money wine. It is slightly tannic and can be stored for 3-5 years, getters better with age. This year the prices seem to be slightly higher. But the best part is, that the wines from this region go rather well with most foods, especially with Indian food. Brouilly, Fleurie, Morgon and Moulin à Vent are more popular and marginally better quality Crus.

There is another reason for talking about Beaujolais wine s. These light bodied wine s are best drunk chilled, from 10-12 deg C. I remember ordering a Brouilly at a popular local restaurant this summer and was shocked to find the bottle at ‘room temperature' of over 25 degs. When I told the waiter to chill it in an ice bucket, he insisted it should be drunk at the room temperature. Indeed Beaujolais and all light red wine s should be drunk at 10-14 deg C depending upon the grape for best flavour.

Georges Duboeuf, Albert Bichot, J oseph Drouhin and Bouchard Pe`re et fils are some of the popular labels that are available in Delhi . So have a Beaujolais and, like the cola drink that comes closest to the Beaujolais Nouveau says , ‘Enjoy!'

Subhash Arora