Vintage Story

Epistemological epiphany:
Life must be lived forwards,
but can only be understood backwards
Mercifully, life may be enjoyed sideways!

NOVEMBER AND BEAUJOLAIS

            The cursedness of the Beaujolais has proved to be the blessing of the Beaujolais. In the late 14^th century, Phillip the Bold ordered destruction of all Gamay grape vines to make sure the noble Pinot Noir vines throughout the Dukedom of Burgundy suffered no competition from cheap neighbors.

            For centuries, then, the wines of Burgundy assumed prestigious recognition among connoisseurs around the world, and the Beaujolais region drifted into a stony,  impoverished region of tiny villages and unfruitful farmland. It fell so far from public notice that the wine farmers continued to grow the Gamay in spite of the Duke’s contempt for the grape and in obscure defiance of his order to destroy the grape.

            And so it was until just after World War II. Truth be told, the Gamay wine elsewhere was not very good. It never succeeded in Burgundy, was ignored in the rest of Europe, does not do well in the New World, but somehow those rural farmers in the  Beaujolais with its rocky outcroppings and steep valleys managed to produce a simple, straightforward, flavorful wine that today enjoys name recognition second only to champagne.

            As post-war recovery in France advanced, a country wine peddler while traveling from inn to inn selling Beaujolais, honing his marketing skills, gradually realized that fresh, new wine from his region tasted “mighty good.” In much of his region, inn keepers and restaurant owners stored wine in barrels, so that by summer’s end the wine was becoming stale. When Georges Dubouef, the peddler, convinced these trenchermen to replace their tiring wines with the brand new harvest, the “New Beaujolais” was born. Not long after the world took note, and “le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive” signs began appearing from Tokyo to London, from New York to Rio and to Story. Georges Dubouef had become a very rich man and was crowned “the King of Beaujolais.”

            To assure some degree of integrity in the marketing of the new Beaujolais, rules were established concerning all phases of production and prohibiting the release of he new wine until the third Thursday of November. Hence, on the Wednesday before, squadrons of planes and fleets of trucks muster outside the wineries ready to load at midnight and head off to such world capitals as Story, Indiana, where we, too, enjoy the status of being among the first to taste the new wine.

            Of course it’s gimmicky, but it tastes good. And it also is a harbinger of the wine to come, because only the first pressings, the run-offs are used for the New Beaujolais. The rest of the harvest produces village wine and ten prestigious specific growths of honorable wine with a pedigree. Every year, Story patrons should mark their calendars for the week containing the third Thursday in November, because that’s when “le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive.”

                                                                                                ********

Of course these French wines have to be brought into the United States by an importer who will then sell them to wholesalers who will determine which of them retailers may buy. Were it not for restrictive laws in Indiana, retailers could buy directly from most importers and have a choice of more producers than a local retailer can offer. To correct this restraint of free trade, we urge readers to accept a free membership in VinSense, an advocacy group at work to change the wine distribution laws in Indiana. Please check the VinSense website at www.vinsense.org.

    Vintage Story is an e-newsletter authored by Ole Olson and published by the Story Inn, and is available free of charge to all who appreciate good wine. Vintage Story is published at each full moon. The author and the Story Inn specifically authorize the republication, reprinting and circulation of any issue Vintage Story so long as due credit is given to the author and to the Story Inn (which holds the copyright).

If any newspaper or website desires to make use of any issue of Vintage Story, we do request that you notify us. Thanks, and here's to your health!