Dear Alleigh:
Can you drink a 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau a year and a half after release?

I’ve actually received several variations of this question and it’s popped up in the keyword search results of people visiting A Glass After Work.

Honestly, while you can still drink it, it probably won’t taste very good.  Beaujolais Nouveau is bottled, shipped, and ready to drink 6-8 weeks after the grapes are harvested.  The release is always the third Thursday of November and is often called “Beaujolais Day.”

Beaujolais Nouveau are very fruity with a fairly light body and very little tannins, so it isn’t meant for aging.  In fact, the whole purpose of the wine is that it’s a young, immature wine that should be consumed quickly.  The wines are supposed to give an indication of how good the Beaujolais from that year will be.

That said, if you have a bottle, grab it and open it up!  Keeping it isn’t going to make the wine taste better, but at the same time, there’s no point in throwing a bottle of wine away without trying it.  The worst that happens is you don’t like and you throw it away.

Thanks for emailing!  Cheers!
Alleigh

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