Posters given to retailers and restaurants celebrate the arrival of the new Beaujolais vintage.

As of today, the global phenomenon that is Beaujolais Nouveau will once again be in full swing. Perhaps the greatest marketing concept in the history of wine, Beaujolais Nouveau is a category promoted to international fanfare by George DuBoeuf, one of the largest wine merchants in France. The fanfare surrounding the release of Beaujolais Nouveau, a young, simple wine, was invented by DuBoeuf as a marketing gimmick to get cash flow in while the “real Beaujolais” aged for months in casks. It is marked by festive parties and celebrations all around the world, public relations efforts and marketing materials at retailers and restaurants, including colorful window posters like the one shown here.

Beaujolais, which is made from Gamay grapes, had always made a vin de l’année to celebrate the end of the grape harvest. But the wine was only for local consumption and, after the wine was declared an AOC, it could only be officially sold after December 15th of the harvest year. These rules were changed in 1951, and November 15th was set as the release date for what would henceforth be known as Beaujolais Nouveau (the new vintage is now released on the third Thursday of every November).

While it is a November release, Beaujolais Nouveau is the essence of a great summer sipper, made by a method called carbonic maceration, which produces a wine of moderate acidity; low tannin; and simple, overt fruitiness, even with a bit of spritz. Sadly, since Nouveau is meant to be consumed by the end of December, one would be hard pressed to find a bottle in late spring, and if one did, it would likely be over the hill.

The aromatic, unpretentious and fruit-forward wines are light on tannin and complement many different foods and cuisines, making it the ideal choice for pairing with a wide spectrum of dishes and flavors. Although it boasts a two thousand year-old history, the popularity of Beaujolais Nouveau continues. This is a testament to the unpretentious, fun and easy-drinking wine that has inspired annual celebrations in many different countries and cultures for generations.

Beaujolais Nouveau is made by winemakers in the appellations of Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages. To get to know fine Beaujolais, skip the Nouveau and try the ten Crus: Brouilly, Chiroubles, Chénas, Côte-de-Brouilly, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin à Vent, Régnié and Saint-Amour. These are far more complex wines that make excellent food partners. So, when the Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations of 2009 have passed, you can look forward to aged bottles to hit the shores; however, you’ll have to create your own fanfare.

Sherry is a fortified wine from the Jerez region of Spain. It is produced almost exclusively from the Palomino Fino grape.

There are two basic types of Sherry—Fino and Oloroso. All other styles—Amontillado, Cream, Manzanilla, Moscatel, Palo Cortado, Pedro Ximenez—are variations of these types.

From the Jerez-Xérès-Sherry region of Spain, a sweet Oloroso sherry can be the perfect dinner apéritif and multitask as the dessert wine afterwards. Oloroso is Spanish for “fragrant”; a good Oloroso will be intensely aromatic. The typical sweet, rich fig and nut flavors can complement a dessert or be savored on their own. Pair it with pecan pie; with honey, toffee or buttercrunch ice-cream; or for the cheese course, serve the sherry with blue cheese and figs. It’s a treat for the holidays or any time of year. Sherry should be served at room temperature.

Enjoy your sherry! Photo courtesy Ritzenhoff.

Instead of giving a friend a bottle of wine as a birthday, congratulatory or holiday gift, take him or her to a wine tasting. Share the experience and the memories, and build your wine knowledge together. If your budget allows, you can add a bottle of wine as a surprise at the end of the tasting. Most cities have regular tasting events and classes. If you don’t know where to find them, ask at wine stores.

• Read our review of Fizzy Lizzy, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
• Take a look at our Wine and Dessert Pairings Chart.
• Learn more about value wines for everyday and holidays in our Wine Section.

Beware of antioxidant hype. You’d have to
drink a gallon of red wine a day to get the
antioxidant benefit of resveratrol.
Fortunately, this is one antioxidant you can
buy in capsule form. Photo courtesy of
VitaminShoppe.com.

Resveratrol is an antioxidant that has gotten a lot of press in the last few years: a polyphenol found in the skins, seeds and stems of grapes. Studies in mice have shown that it increases cellular productivity and longevity, leading to a longer and healthier life. Where can you find resveratrol? In red wine!

Now, there are resveratrol supplements, enabling you to “enjoy all the health benefits of red wine, without the adverse effects of alcohol.” Otherwise, you would need to drink a gallon of red wine a day to show the effects observed in mice. That’s not doable for the population at large because of the cost, the calories, and, oh yes, the need to be sober and carry on with one’s life.

ReserveAge Organics is one brand of resveratrol dietary supplement capsules. Sixty capsules, a two-month supply, have a suggested retail price of $39.99. You can find them discounted to $30.99 on Drugstore.com and $29.99 on VitaminShoppe.com (which lists the suggested retail as $35.99).

Is it worth $360 a year for whatever “longer and healthier life” you’ll get from a daily capsule of resveratrol? You be the judge. (You can give up cholesterol, start exercising, etc. for free.) The bigger point is that, every time you read an article about the antioxidants in chocolate or whatever, remember the

Don’t give this boxed wine the fish eye—it’s good stuff!

Think inside the box, says Consumer Reports magazine, evaluating boxed chardonnays in its July 2009 issue. While our own wine collection includes cases of DRC and Yquem (don’t even think of breaking into our place—they’re not stored here), we love a good boxed wine. They’re great for parties and picnics and they’re hands-down environmentally superior to recycling (or landfilling) glass and using cork or metal caps. You can keep an open box of wine in the refrigerator for four to six weeks, enjoying a glass whenever you want one, with wine on hand for cooking.

And when you can pay $4 per 750 ml (the size of a regular bottle of wine), you’d be foolish not to declare to everyone you know that wine boxes are cool, wine boxes are green, never whine about a good wine box. So, speaking of good, here’s what Consumer Reports recommends.

If you can’t find the vintage tested, try another. Manufacturers strive to achieve consistency from one vintage to another.

Merlots tested by the CR team didn’t fare as well. The 2008 Banrock Station merlot, $19, and the 2007 Black Box California, $25 were deemed to be lower in quality: not very complex with overripe fruit. But, the tasters concluded, “if you’re having a big party and not a wine tasting, they could fill the bill. ”

So here’s your summer entertaining idea: A boxed wine tasting party. Let the group vote, and then let everyone pick numbers from a hat. In order, the guests get to take what’s left of their favorite boxed wine home. If your guests are big drinkers, can the prize drawing or buy extra boxes.

See THE NIBBLE’s Wine Section for more tips and entertaining ideas, including wine and cheese pairings, wine and chocolate pairings and wine and dessert pairings.

If you love a glass of red and aren’t limited to a stay-cation these days, Inter Beaujolais and Destination Beaujolais have developed the first-ever Beaujolais wine tourist route to help you explore France’s Beaujolais region. Discover the “real” Beaujolais—it bears little resemblance to the fresh juice that is Beaujolais Nouveau. You can even start your wine-cation in Burgundy, to the north; then pick up the Beaujolais route where the Burgundy wine route leaves off. Crossing through 36 villages, you can hit all the “must-see” destinations of Beaujolais: the 12 appellations including Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages and the 10 Cru.

Imagine yourself in Beaujeu, the historical capital of Beaujolais in the heart of the Beaujolais “crus” region. Traveling on to the village of Vaux-en-Beaujolais (a.k.a. Clochemerle), past the Romanesque cloisters of Salles-Arbuissonas and Villefranche-Sur-SaĂ´ne—the economic capital of Beaujolais. Visit the “land of golden stones,” le Pays des Pierres DorĂ©es, where you’ll find the village Oingt, which has been called the most beautiful village in France. Your Beaujolais tour ends in the gastronomic capital of Lyon—France’s second-largest metropolitan area, which is older than Paris, has more Roman ruins and a host of 1-, 2- and 3-star Michelin restaurants,including the 3-star Paul Bocuse.

Start at the top of Beaujolais and taste your way down to the restaurant capital of Lyons.

You can download a copy of the guidebook from www.beaujolais.com. Please, take us with you!

Speaking of wine descriptors, we’d like to take a few moments to riff on the snarky comments we too often hear about “wine snobs.” Earlier this year, we even received an email from a public relations firm—sent to journalists—asking us to send them our favorite, deprecating “wine snob” terms so that they could turn them into some kind of wine-snob-bashing promotion. The wine brand they mentioned was not a label that “wine snobs” might pursue, so one could see some “fun in bashing the wine snobs” in the works. However, we were shocked that any PR agency or wine brand would encourage such negativity. So, let’s take a minute to talk about “wine snobs,” who they are, and why anyone might want to bash them in the first place.

First, the definition of a snob, per The American Heritage Dictionary:

Toast to National Wine Day! Photo courtesy StockXchng.

O.K., even if they do, what’s it to you? The best course of action is to ignore such people, not call attention to them. But let’s power on.

1. Our first group of “suspects,” people who are wine connoisseurs, could hardly be called snobs. They are people who are seriously educated in wine and who generally enjoy sharing their knowledge with others. Everyone began at the bottom of the wine knowledge ladder, spent years acquiring their expertise, and are always in “learning mode.”

- True wine connoisseurs are very passionate and knowledgeable about wine, have highly educated palates, collect fine wine, drink very good wine as a rule and avoid middling wine. Declining to drink mediocre wine does not make one a “snob”: Would you eat a tough steak?
- Good wine does not mean pricey wine. A wine connoisseur knows how to find a satisfying $10 bottle from Cahors, South Africa or wherever. In fact, anyone knows how to find a good $100 bottle of wine. The hero is the person who finds the good $10 (or these days) $20 bottle of wine.
- True wine connoisseurs don’t care if you’re wealthy or important, as long as you have deep knowledge about wine and can have a vibrant discussion about it. A school teacher with a great palate and a wealth of information and ideas is more welcome than a millionaire with neither.
- True wine connoisseurs cherish enjoying the world’s greatest wines on special occasions and sharing them with other wine lovers—in fact, part of the excitement is having the communal experience with other wine lovers who will appreciate the bottle and remember it in discussions that will take place years hence.
- They don’t really want to have Mouton Rothschild and Chateau d’Yquem every night, because then these great wines will cease to be special experiences. They enjoy new discoveries and don’t judge anything until they’ve tried it.

Those who enjoy theatre aren’t called “theatre snobs.” Those who spend a lot on fine travel aren’t “travel snobs.” Those who pour fortunes into lavish homes aren’t “real estate snobs.” It’s that industry jargon that others don’t understand or appreciate that causes those who use it to be seen as “snobs.”

- Yes, wine connoisseurs use words like “blackcurrant,” “smokey,” “butterscotch” and “leathery” to describe wines. But that isn’t snobby, that’s descriptive—just as you’d use the words like “fruity,” “peppery,” “buttery” or “herbal” to describe different styles of olive oil.
- The overarching point is that knowledgeable people know what they want to buy. If you prefer a wine with dark fruit flavors like blackcurrant to red fruit flavors like strawberry, you want the sommelier or store clerk to point you to what you’ll enjoy—just as you want to be able to accurately describe the wine is to fellow connoisseurs.
- And while we’re at it, here’s a chart of olive oil flavors and aromas, while we’re at it.)

Now for the real wine snob.

2. If anyone needs to be called a wine snob, it’s the person who wants to impress people with his wealth and/or knowledge by throwing around the names of prestigious wines he/she has consumed. A person who acts in the manner of the dictionary definition cited above. A person who will tell you that he had a 1990 La Tache Burgundy with his burger last night.

- Real wine connoisseurs call this behavior “drinking the labels”—i.e., trying to impress others with what you own or what you’ve drunk or who you drank it with. No one thinks less of a wine snob than a wine connoisseur.

So enjoy your glass(es) of wine on this dual holiday. Think of all of those who have given their lives for our country, and how unnecessary it is to need to call anyone a wine snob—or any kind of snob—in the first place.

See more of our favorite Champagnes.