Enobytes Wine Blog

BOSTON, Mass. (November 24, 2009) – Tucked away in a tiny little store in Boston’s North End, a shopper finds a treasure not spotted by many. “I never thought in a million years I’d ever witness such a finding”, says local wine shopper Gregory Young. “I just happened to be shopping for a Grüner Veltliner when I came across this magnificent find at my local wine store”, exclaimed Gregory.

What Mr. Young found was a 10-year Beaujolais Nouveau vertical, a find that most will never experience during their lifetime. Ok, I’ll admit the story didn’t go quite like this but with the recent release of the ‘09 Beaujolais Nouveau, I thought it would be fun to share stories and this one comes from one of our loyal readers, VinRaptor. Hopefully, it will make your day as it did mine.

One year, on the day the Nouveau Beaujolais arrived, we had the usual rush of Competitive W(h)iners, racing to have it home before their neighbors did. One character strutted in like he owned the joint, glanced – and sniffed disdainfully (obviously for the benefit of the woman with him) – at the Nouveau display, and asked whether we had any “Real” Beaujolais.

I sent him down the appropriate aisle, not realizing that a part-timer, a college student, had, when asked to “Send up (from our cellar) all the Beaujolais,” sent up literally all the wines of that type.

He had, as I later found, artfully arranged in a metal rack – in chronological order – Nouveau releases left over (and never properly disposed of) from the preceding five years. As I was talking with another customer, I heard the aforementioned character exclaim in joy, “Wow! Verticals of Beaujolais Nouveau!”

He bought them all, waving off my attempt to warn him and muttering to his companion, “That’s the kind of stuff they tell customers so they can keep the Good Stuff for themselves.” Virtue is not the only characteristic, which serves as its own reward. Never saw the guy again. Be Well; Carpe Vinum! ~VinRaptor

So now I’m off to find my Beaujolais Nouveau vertical. If I don’t return in a couple of weeks, call the wine police. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your Beaujolais Nouveau stories! …and wishing you and your family a happy turkey day.