We thought this French tradition was on its last legs: it has to be said that, with the exception of a handful of die-hard fans, the announcement of Beaujolais Nouveau no longer gets many people in France fired up.
These days, the French prefer beer, so much so that we are seeing the rise of a real “brewing laboratory” phenomenon, with daily discoveries of new traditional craft-brewed Gueuze beers, just like in days of yore, made from leftover bread, or soon even green frog skins or dwarf snail spit. So it’s lucky that the Japanese, known for their hyperactive consumption (less than three litres per year), are giving pride of place to the vin de primeur from the banks of the Rhone. It is said that their irrational passion for the variety is driving them to bathe in vast lakes of vin nouveau …
