So, Thursday 17 November, the day when the new harvest's BJ is released, came and went and as usual I was down the high street to check out what was available. Sadly the wine drinkers of Canterbury were out of luck because the only bottles I could find were in Waitrose. In spite of a strong publicity campaign in advance from M&S featuring celebrity Maître d' and host of Channel 4's ‘First Dates’ Fred Sirieix there was no sign of the new vintage in their large store in the city centre. Even the smaller food-only branch out of town couldn’t come up with the goods. In fact, it was not until Monday, 4 days after release date, that my DM on Twitter resulted in M&S confirming available stock was now available out of town. By this stage we had already sampled the bottle from Waitrose, confirmed it was good, and been back and picked up another. But before getting into the serious business of taste let’s check out the presentation.
They are both standard screwtop bottles with front and back labels. Waitrose have gone for black top and collar whereas M&S have chosen pink. This less formal presentation is matched by a complementary bright and breezy front label. The back label of the Waitrose bottle notes the wine is "produced on the edge of the Crus area, mainly in the northern part of the appellation" and with words like 'crus' and 'appellation' is clearly aimed at consumers with some knowledge of wine terminology. It summarises the wine as delivering "red and black fruit on the nose, it is perfectly balance (sic) between fruit and structure. Juicy on the palate with delicate fruit flavours and offers a fresh finish" which, despite somewhat dodgy English, is an accurate representation of the wine within.
The back label of the M&S bottle is largely taken up by a message from Fred himself who, having assured us that 'Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!' purrs on about how it is a sensational wine specially chosen by him for M&S, a perfect party drink, that we should enjoy lightly chilled OR with fireworks, and then signs off with a cheery 'Magnifique'. I'm not sure how many shoppers will be taking up his suggestion of a firework display just now and surely his information about the wine's release "at 12.01am on the third Thursday in November" should actually be 00.01. Nevertheless, his message is in character even if his Anglo-French lifestyle leaves him confused about different formats for telling the time. And the label also gives his (or is it M&S's?) thoughts on Style (lively, juicy and unbaked), Taste (cherries & strawberries), and Food (green salad, grilled chicken). The latter is interesting since Waitrose are recommending their wine as a "perfect companion to roasted and red meats, marinated beef, duck".
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| Waitrose Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2022 |
TASTE
The label on the Waitrose bottle has already given us a pretty accurate summary of the character of a typical Beaujolais Nouveau and in many ways this could be applied to both wines here. I always think of tinned strawberries when sniffing a glass of Beaujolais and both wines offer a powerful perfume prior to sipping. I also agree that cherries and strawberries accurately describe the taste of them both. We thought that the Waitrose wine had slightly more body than the M&S wine and this could well have been due to its origin in the appellation Beaujolais-Villages, an area of hilly terrain in the north of the Beaujolais region considered superior to the flat lands in the south. We also felt that the M&S was perhaps a little sweeter. The winemakers had certainly extracted maximum juice and colour from the grapes and there was a pleasant bright fresh finish in both cases.
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| Fred Sirieix's M&S Beaujolais Nouveau 2022 |
CONCLUSIONS
2022 is undoubtedly a good year for Beaujolais Nouveau and, unlike last year, both high street stores here have produced attractive and enjoyable wines at a reasonable price. The M&S wine is £8.00 and the Waitrose just slightly dearer at £8.99. I believe prices were similar last year and in the context of rising inflation are well judged to turn a quick profit with wines designed to be drunk young. What I do find disappointing is that other supermarkets are no longer interested in stocking this unique seasonal one-off wine. A few years ago Sainsburys had one but even they appear to have thrown in the towel. However, somewhat belatedly I note that Majestic are selling Domaine Pardon et fils 'A Nous' Beaujolais Nouveau 2022 (£9.99, or £8.99 as one bottle in a 'Mix Six'), although I haven't tasted it. Consumer comments on their website suggests it is just as good as the ones reviewed here.
Of course it is worth remembering that Beaujolais is a fine but currently rather overlooked wine in its own right, not just as a 'primeur' but also mature and marketed like other great wines. This was the message from Fiona Beckett in the Guardian last Friday in her article Beaujolais doesn't have to be nouveau in which she extols the virtues of 'mainstream' Beaujolais. One of her recommendations was Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Beaujolais Villages Côteaux Granitiques 2020 13% and costing £10. She describes it as "really attractive own-label Beaujolais, highlighting the regions granitic soils. Well worth buying when it is on a 25%-off deal". Of course I took her up on the recommendation and it is my next Beaujolais to try!
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| Sainsbury's TtD Beaujolais Villages Cöteaux Granitiques 2020 |
Postscript - ENGLISH NOUVEAU
There is one further nouveau wine we tasted this year. It's the English Nouveau, a quick turnaround, first of the vintage wine produced by the Sixteen Ridges winery in Herefordshire. Unlike Beaujolais Nouveau which is made from the Gamay grape this is made from an early ripening mutation of Pinot Noir. It has been released through Waitrose where it has been on sale this year for £11.99. In comparison with the Beaujolais wines it is much lighter in appearance and noticeably lighter bodied. The label suggests it has typical aromas of banana and cranberry, with cherry, raspberry, and strawberry on the palate. According to the winery's Facebook page a portion of the wine for the first time this year was kept in oak "to help round the palate and give a slight vanilla note too". Although produced by the same carbonic maceration method as Beaujolais it is definitely less fruity than the French wines this year. Undoubtedly an interesting wine and, in this case, clearly a commercial success it is never going to be mistaken for BJ. But then, that's not the point.
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