Beaujolais Nouveau · Thursday 19 November
The Beaujolais Nouveau is coming!
And 2026 is a special year
The season was sunny, warm and dry. Sun and drought let the grapes ripen slowly and fully. The berries stay small, with little water and lots of flavour and colour. That gives concentration and ripeness. There is very little available, but what there is, is of fantastic quality.
By now, 90% of the Beaujolais Nouveau at the winemaker has sold out. That is why you can still pre-order this wine until Wednesday 28 October. That way you are sure to get a bottle of this special vintage.
Shipped on 19 November
Beaujolais Nouveau Rouge AOC Beaujolais-Villages
A lively, fruit-driven young wine that captures the spirit of the new harvest.
Gamay from 50-year-old vines on sandy granite soil. A bright cherry-red colour with ruby hints, a nose full of red and black berries, raspberry and flowers, and a fresh, fruity taste with soft tannins. Serve it lightly chilled at 12–14°C.
✓ 100% Gamay · 12.5% vol.
✓ Old vines, 40 hl/ha
✓ Free shipping from 12 bottles
€ 12.00 per bottle · € 72.00 per case of 6
Prefer to pick it up in our shop in Amsterdam or Utrecht? Email us here to order the wine.
The story
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!
Every year on the third Thursday of November something special happens: the first wine of the new harvest is poured. This year that is Thursday 19 November, but because some wines are already sold out, we are starting the pre-order now.
19th century
A party after the harvest
The tradition dates back to the 19th century. Winemakers in Beaujolais celebrated the end of the harvest with a glass of that year’s young wine.
Lyon
Straight from the barrel
Café owners in Lyon bought the wine by the barrel and poured it straight away in their cafés. That is how it became a local celebration.
The ’60s
The race to Paris
Who would be first to deliver the new wine to Paris? Trucks left at one minute past midnight and, as the story goes, bottles even travelled by Concorde and hot-air balloon. That is how it grew into a worldwide tradition.
How it is made
Gamay, made to drink young
The wine is made from Gamay and meant to be enjoyed young. Whole grapes ferment in a closed tank, known as carbonic maceration. That gives lots of fruit and soft tannins, without the firmness of a wine that spends a long time on its skins. The result is fruity, supple and wonderfully easy to drink.
In the glass
Fruity and supple
Lots of fruit, soft tannins and wonderfully easy to drink.
Serving
Lightly chilled
At 12 to 14°C, which brings out the fresh fruit best.
At the table
With charcuterie
Or with a hearty meal, or simply on a cosy evening with friends.
More from Château de Durette
Beaujolais is more than just Nouveau
Besides the Beaujolais Nouveau, Beaujolais also produces Beaujolais-Villages, with more structure and character, and wine from the ten crus: the best wines of the region, each with its own character. Château de Durette makes seven of them, plus a rare white Beaujolais.
Read more on our blog (in Dutch)
Reserve your case now and the first wine of 2026 will be on your table in time. Straight from the winemaker, no middleman.
You can also pick it up in our shops in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Email us here to order the wine.
