2009 Beaujolais Nouveau worth the anticipation

This year’s Beaujolais Nouveau is yummy—and it’s worth picking up a bottle or two for the forthcoming festivities. Released annually during the third week in November, young, fruit-forward Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to give a glimpse of the year’s grape harvest and the kinds of qualities it might reveal in the future. While the PR machine always gets rolling about the quality of the grapes, this year it’s merited. “One of the best vintages on record,” says Wine Spectator about 2009.

I sampled the recognizable and widely available Georges DuBouef Beaujolais-Villages last week and found it had good structure, nice fruit with a little pepper and a strong, smooth finish. I always dip into Beaujolais Nouveau when the season rolls around, and often wish I hadn’t. This year is an exception. Enjoy.