The Beaujolais Nouveau is known to be a French tradition, but since a few years now, this tradition has spread out in various cities in the world and for a couple of years we have had the pleasure to notice that it also made it to Stockholm!
As the wine scene is getting more and more diversified and robust in the capital of Scandinavia, we can notice that wine bars in the city are offering Beaujolais Nouveau by the glass from the third Thursday of November. This year it all started on Thursday the 15th (as the French famous slogan says « Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé ! » which means it has arrived!) and we chose to go to two places to celebrate: the well-established 19 Glass in Gamla Stan and the newly opened farm-to-table restaurant Farm in Frihammen.
But first, what is the Beaujolais Nouveau tradition? It all started in the Beaujolais region of France near Lyon and was what we can call now a great marketing campaign! Selling a wine within the weeks of harvest was lucrative and the best way to compete with rival wine producers from the so-called Burgundy region. Today, bottles of the same year are opened throughout the whole of France and that is described as a wine party and the testing the first sip of the Beaujolais Nouveau is a special event in itself.
Opinions on Beaujolais Nouveau remain divided – some people claim that it is not a wine of their liking, if they are usually prone to like full-bodied and oaky wines. Others love the freshness and juiciness of such young wines especially, when made in respect of ‘honest’ wine-making. In this article, we will be focusing on natural Gamay, with as little human intervention as possible.
At 19 Glass, Beaujolais Nouveau 2018 was served from November 15th to November 19th. We tried the very good Beaujolais Nouveau from Rémi Dufaitre – definitely one to drink by the gallon and the one from Karim Vionnet which was also on offer by the glass.
At Farm, the experience was slightly different as we had a proper Beaujolais Nouveau party, trying different producers (Lilian & Sophie Bauchet, Jean-François Nicq, Renaud Bruyère) – and being able to order the same wine from different vintage was a great touch. Here one could for instance try the Jean Foillard Beaujolais Nouveau 2018, but also the 2014 and 2015. The 2018 was also released at Systembolaget on Thursday morning for the lucky ones as the production is also very limited.
The restaurant is a nice minimalist space with a view on the owner’s brewery – no less! A guided tour of the brewery, for fans of craft beers, is very interesting to have too.
There was a special Beaujolais Nouveau food menu on offer – both the lamb and the rabbit terrine were delicious, alongside an interesting flat bread, a few vegetarian options and
great dessert too.
If you missed this year’s party, you will be ready for the first sip next year at these places we have tried for you!
