Beaujolais Nouveau Day 2025 – The First Taste of a New Vintage
On the third Thursday of November, something extraordinary happens. In cellars from Beaujolais to the Barossa, and bars from London to Tokyo, glasses are raised in celebration of the same wine — the first red of the new vintage.
Beaujolais Nouveau Day is one of the most joyful events in the wine calendar. Each year, at the stroke of midnight on the third Thursday of November, the newly fermented Gamay is released to the world — fresh, vibrant, and tasting of the harvest that ended just weeks before. Our 2025 release from Jean-Michel Dupré is available now.
A Tradition Born in the Rolling Hills
Beaujolais sits just south of Burgundy, a compact region of granite hills and volcanic soils entirely devoted to one grape: Gamay. Unlike its more famous northern neighbour, Beaujolais has always been wine for drinking young — vivid with red fruit, low in tannin, and fermented by a technique called semi-carbonic maceration that preserves every ounce of fresh, primary charm.
The Nouveau tradition began as a local custom. Winemakers would release a small barrel of new wine after the harvest to mark the end of another year in the vineyards. By the 1970s, the celebration had taken on a life of its own. Restaurants and wine bars across France began competing to be the first to pour it; exporters raced to get their allocations across borders the moment the embargo lifted.
The Legendary Beaujolais Race
What followed became one of the wine world's great traditions. Journalists, merchants, and enthusiasts would tear across France in cars, on motorbikes, by private plane and occasionally by hot-air balloon, all to reach Paris — or London, or Tokyo — with the first bottles of the year. British pubs would hang signs in their windows weeks in advance: First in London. Drivers reportedly wedged cases so tightly into sports cars that they had to climb out through the windows.
The race has softened over the decades, but the spirit has not. Every third Thursday in November, the wine world pauses for a shared moment of celebration — a toast to the new vintage, the harvest just past, and the simple pleasure of wine made to be drunk immediately.
Celebrating 2025 with Jean-Michel Dupré
Jean-Michel Dupré is among the most respected producers in the region, farming vineyards across Beaujolais with a focus on expressing the granite terroir that gives the best wines their depth and structure. His Nouveau captures everything that makes Beaujolais Nouveau worth celebrating: freshness, vivid fruit, and an immediacy that no other wine quite delivers.
Available now — the 2025 release
Beaujolais Nouveau 2025 — Jean-Michel Dupré
Gamay from one of Beaujolais' finest producers — bursting with red cherry, raspberry, and a characteristic floral lift. Light, joyful, and made to be shared. Serve slightly chilled for best results.
Serve it slightly cool — around 14–16°C — alongside charcuterie, roasted chicken, or a simple cheese board. Beaujolais Nouveau is, above all, a wine for sharing. Open it, pour generously, and raise a glass to the new vintage.