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The hotel had collaborated with Air France and Maison de La France to celebrate the event- an international annual event that reportedly started after the Second World War and was taken a few notches higher by the ubiquitous Georges Duboeuf who placed wines from this region on the American map. Though it has been fading in popularity and taking some beating throughout the world as a fun wine event due to its unenviable quality of the Nouveau, the tradition is still very much alive, especially in US and Japan, besides Paris where 2 million bottles are reportedly sold in one night- on the third Thursday of November.
Last time when the Imperial organised the event about 3 years ago, the invites had been limited to about 100 and the rituals were held inside. This time around, the lawns came alive with about 250 people welcoming Beaujolais Villages Nouveau arriving 6 days later than the traditional date. That did not deter the guests from having a good time even if they had no knowledge of French- the official language of the evening, or the quaffable wine which was fresh and fruity with no pretences, but would be tired and over the top, come summer.
Amit Oberoi, the soft spoken acting imperial General Manager confirmed that the last time it was held on the third Thursday of November, the day it is supposed to be uncorked. 'But the timing was so tight that we had decided to pay the customs duty and even then it had arrived at 5:30 the same evening. But this time, we did not want to take any chances and went by the later date of 26th November proposed by the French and not the designated 20th.'
The 55 kms long Beaujolais is just north of Lyon and south of Burgundy to which it once belonged as a wine region. Using Gamay, the poorer and earlier ripening cousin of Pinto Noir, it produces light, easy drinking young wine, low on tannins and high on fruit, especially banana flavours, without any complexity to talk about or the need to critique the wine.
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| Peter de Man the General Manager of KLM-Air France |
When asked how much wine had been Air-Franced, Peter de Man the Dutch General Manager of KLM-Air France was quite elusive and did not commit beyond 'one small barrel and enough for about 600 people.' One could spot a sleepy cask in the horizon but the efficient staff of the hotel, holding the bottle with the colourful label, made sure no glass in hand was empty. 'You do know the problem of paperwork at the customs and the label registration with excise so we did not want to take any chances and did not plan on the traditional Thursday,' added Peter.
Ironically, Georges Duboeuf, the king of Beaujolais wines, who produces about four million bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau annually and is a very powerful negociant and Beaujolais producer, reportedly negotiated a deal with the French government to allow an early release of the wine to enable him to use ships rather than planes to transport across to the U.S.
Nostalgic moments
The evening brought back nostalgic memories of the golden years of Beaujolais in India in the nineties when Air France used to jointly hold the event in the lawns of the then ITC Maurya Sheraton where 500-600 people present used to include the glitterati (p3 was non-existent then). Lots of music and dancing, quizzes and prizes that included the tickets to visit Beaujolais and casks of the Beaujolais from which beautiful mademoiselles poured out the wine, way past the bedtime.
There used to be a scramble for the invitations. The denizens might not have known the difference between Bordeaux and Burgundy but they went home high on wine and knowledge about Beaujolais. It helped that the fruity wine goes down well with slightly spicy Indian food or by itself and is a good value for money wine.
Great party- but not for Beaujolais
As a party, it was enjoyable. But did it promote Beaujolais? I have my doubts. There was nothing to suggest about its charms or even the origin- one would presume that since it was a party by Air France and the French Tourist Office, it must be French.
It might have been informative to talk about this non-serious wine made by carbonic fermentation without crushing the grapes and thus reducing the fermentation process so that it was ready to ship within 6-8 weeks of fermentation. Or that it was rally meant to help the poor grower or the producer with some cash flow by early release, as Gamay grape did not shed tears when subjected to high-speed processing.
… or Cru Beaujolais
It might not have been a bad idea to also promote Cru Beaujolais- the top end wine made from the designated parcels in 10 villages of Beaujolais and tell the folks about the location, south of Burgundy, of which it was once a part of. The hierarchy of these wines, starting from the generic Beaujolais to Villages to Cru Beaujolais in which the name of the village could be declared on the label and that it matured for 2-3 years and lasted for up to five, making it one of the best value and quality French wines.
Incidentally, Brouilly (brew- yee), Chiroubles (shee-roob-luh) Chénas (shay-nah), Côte de Brouilly (coat duh brew-yee), Fleurie (flur-ee) Juliénas (zjoo-lee-ay-nah), Morgon (more-goN), Moulin à Vent (Moo-lan ah vahN), Régnié ([reh-nýay), Saint Amour (saant ah-moor) are the 10 villages in which the designated parcels can produce Cru Beaujolais (boe-zjoh-lay)- with Brouilly, Fleurie and Moulin a Vent being already popular in India without people knowing.
Mr. Duboeuf in India
Georges Duboeuf is imported by Finewinesnmore. One can find these wines in several Delhi hotels like the Taj Palace, The Metropolitan, The Park, Crowne Plaza –Gurgaon and restaurants which include Bennigans, Chungwa, Smoke House Grill and Punjabi By Nature. JW Marriot, The Park Vashi, Taj Mahal, Ambassador, Le Meridian are some of the 5-star properties which have listed it in Mumbai. You will also find it in stand alone restaurants like Bombay Gymkhana, Flamboyante, Moti Mahal, and Ozone. Some of their labels are also available in retail.
Le Beaujolais est arrivé'
Beaujolais Nouveau may not be a great wine but the idea of celebrating its traditional arrival on the third Thursday in November amidst the announcement, 'Le Beaujolais est arrivé' is a fun event that should also be used to promote serious wines from the region. The organisers may claim success on the former front but I am sorry to say Mr. Duboeuf, the opportunity might not have been utilised to the fullest towards the latter goal.
Subhash Arora |