Go to any wine shop this week and you are bound to find them announcing “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé” (”the Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived”). Step inside and you’ll find countless cases of colorfully labeled bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau displayed prominently. Yes, it’s that time of year again! On the third Thursday of November, the official release date chosen by the French government, wine stores around the world celebrate the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau. And, it’s a marketing blitz like no other in the wine world. American and Japanese wine enthusiasts in particular look forward to this day with anticipation and are often waiting in line to get the first bottles of the latest Nouveau vintage.
A bit about Beaujolais Nouveau. The wine is made from grapes that were still on the vine just three short months ago (hence the “nouveau” or “new” label). It’s fruity, it’s light, and it goes really well with holiday meals, especially turkey. It’s made from 100% gamay grapes from the Burgundy region in France. It’s a relatively inexpensive wine, usually selling for about $10.00 U.S. per bottle. But, truth be told, Beaujolais Nouveau is actually the lowest wine in the Beaujolais hierarchy. I’m not a wine snob, that’s just the truth. It was historically a low volume wine and was not highly regarded by most wine experts. So how did this lowly wine become so popular and inspire such a frenzy on the third Thursday of November?
A little history lesson in Beaujolais Nouveau. In France, Beaujolais Nouveau was originally produced so that local wine-growers and their friends could celebrate the end of the Beaujolais harvest. Until World War II, it was sold for local consumption only. In 1951, the French government relaxed their distribution laws and set an official release date of November 15 for the young Beaujolais and declared it Beaujolais Nouveau. In the early 1970’s, George DuBouef saw some big marketing potential in Beaujolais Nouveau. It was an accessible and easy drinking wine that most people could enjoy. But he saw more than that. He saw a way to clear lots of ordinary wine at a good profit, very close to the time it was harvested. It was a great cash flow equation. So, in the 1970’s, DuBouef helped start a race to deliver the first bottles of Nouveau to Paris. It generated a ton of buzz and attention and became a national event. In time, the buzz spread to the U.S. and the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau became a heralded event. In 1985, DuBouef and others had the release date changed to the third Thursday in November, just 1 week before the American Thanksgiving holiday. This whipped up the frenzy even further and helped make Nouveau become THE wine to serve at holiday dinners in the U.S. In fact, the Washington Post has stated that “because Beaujolais Nouveau is released annually on the third Thursday of November — exactly one week before Thanksgiving — the two have become as inextricably linked as Champagne and New Year’s Eve.” DuBouef and several other notable Beaujolais negociants have since promoted Beaujolais Day heavily, creating what is probably the biggest one-day marketing event in the wine world.
Global sales of Beaujolais Nouveau reached a peak at 62 million bottles in 1998, making Beaujolais Nouveau one of France’s best-selling wines ever. And, instead of being a wine sold only for local consumption, Beaujolais Nouveau is now exported to over 107 countries worldwide. DuBoeuf, the man behind the magic of Beaujolais, has led the way and is by and far the leader in Beaujolais sales. It’s been an incredible ride for a simple wine and for Georges DuBoeuf thanks to some serious edgecraft marketing. So, marketing frenzy or not, I’m heading out today to pick up a few bottles of Georges DuBoeuf’s 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau for my family’s Thanksgiving Day celebration…it’s become sort of a tradition for us. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!
For more info on Beaujolais Nouveau, check out the Beaujolais Nouveau website here.
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18 Responses
November 26th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Hi Chris,
Nice story indeed;
In france, most people agree that it is indeed a low quality wine !
We have a good joke about it :
“2 people are having a lunch together; one of the guy ask, may I propose to drink a bottle of Beaujolais-Nouveau with our meal; the other one guy anwers, no thank you I would rather prefers some red wine!!”
regards from Paris.
Laurent
November 26th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Chris, what bothers me is the elevation of the ‘hype’ (edgecraft marketing) over a quality product. I’m sure we can both easily point to examples of software that was way overly-hyped and didn’t deliver what was promised.
Beaujolais Nouveau is not good wine, even to my unsophisticated palate. I bet with a little research you can find other Beaujolais (like Cru) that would be even more yummy at your Thanksgiving feast!
(If you genuinely like it, then I apologize. I always tell people to drink what they like and ignore the wine snobs. I’m just encouraging you to expand your horizons a bit :-))
November 26th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Chris,
Again, you drew me into the story, well written.
Thanks for the interesting content on Linkedin; sure beats the latest person needing something or other, best to give first, like you are doing.
All the best in your success, if I can help in any way, do not hesitate to ask.
Tom
November 26th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Reminds me of De Beers and a “Diamond is forever”…
Diamonds are only well marketed polished minerals.
November 26th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The actual product is only one component of a companies success. If you believe in the marketing philosophy, as long as operational and financial capability are present, the product could be least important component.
However, from my perspective, wine marketing in the US is under performing because the amount of wine consumption per “wine consumer” is quite low. The marketing budgets dutifully exhausted around the holidays, just reminders us of this inadequacy.
Even business leaders managing the dairy industry have been more successful in increasing consumption of milk at $4/gallon.
Get Milk.
November 26th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Now I know why most beaujolais taste like crap
But its true, the best clothing brands not always make the best clothes either. That is the marketing principle. Find out what the customer wants to experience and sell him exactly that.
November 26th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Great story Chris. I admit to having been one of those who used to believe the hype and rushed to my local liquor store to buy a couple of dozens every year as soon as it came out and celebrated the “event” in good company. Now the cheap wine is gone but the good company remains. Fortunately. Thanks!
November 26th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Hope every enjoys a bottle tomorrow.
Quick note @Eric Aarsen: Actually, not all Beaujolais are light drinking, lower quality wines. Some of the Grands Crus Beaujolais are excellent wines. But never mind my opinion. I agree with Hilary, drink what you like!
November 27th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Nice backstory Chris. The most disconcerting aspect of the “new blitz” (release of the Beaujolais Nouveau) is reading a newspaper in the metro morning on the day of the release, showing a picture of Japanese “fans” bathing in the wine…
Ok, so are the Beaujolais Nouveau-bathing Japanese I saw in the picture just excited as they can celebrate the release before the French themselves, or is this some type of über wine-snob commentary, proclaiming that the wine is only fit at most to bathe in?
Personally, I think a bit of both.
As I live in France and was exposed to every corner bar/restaurant advertising the release, combined with the image of bathing Japanese in the wine, enjoying a bottle of Champagne seemed the more prudent choice that night.
Au revoir!
November 27th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Inspiring! Yesterday, I bought 2 bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau for about $10 a bottle - just to make sure “I got it” there was a turkey on the label! (Actually, the turkey made me a little suspicious, but I bought it anyway.) You’ll note that I followed exactly the marketer’s plan. Of course, It didn’t matter at all to me then that this wine is made of lefotover grapes and is of apparently low quality because I didn’t know about that. And Nouveau seemed “good” - I’d ignored the general wisdom that age is a respected component of the quality of a wine.
And I’m counting on my guests this afternoon to be surprised and pleased that their gracious host (me!) has provided this stylish and appropriate wine for dinner.
What comes up for me (I’m a business coach with a lot of diverse clients) is that successful marketing frequently dispenses with conventional wisdom and creates a new paradigm, simply by saying so. A sow’s ear deftly becomes a silk purse. And cash flow flows! My two bottles might have become Vin Ordinaire and never have left France had it not been for the imagination of M. George DuBoeuf.
In fact, my wine store may become anxious if a lot of bottles with turkeys on the lahel linger after Thanksgiving - ah well, there’s always Christmas!
After I drink the wine with my guests, I plan to distribute this conversation to my clients - perhaps they’ll be able to generate the analog to Beaujolais Nouveau in their businesses.
Craig Jennings
November 27th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Why do we do things ? This is the question . I do this because I was told to . I do this because the others do it . I do it because we have always been diong this . Do people buy products because of the price ? because of its quality ? or because of its fame ? It is good to have this products at home . You are right : “I got it” because it is socially good to “have it ” .
Human ’s behavior is very interesting to study . From marketing to Staneley Milgram experiment , there is a lot of things to learn about human’s being behavior .
Samir Kaouche from Lyon .
November 28th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I agree. I’ve always said I’m not a wine snob either, but I think I could be coming closer to one each year. I haven’t had many wines that I dislike. Knowing the story behind them fascinates me, and makes me appreciate them fuller.
However, I agree the Beaujolais are more hype than substance. I don’t mean to dis-credit any of them by any means. Maybe I haven’t had the right one yet. I do credit the marketing has done it liberty. Just like anything else that goes on a moritorium, it becomes more desireable, especially for those of us stocking our cellars.
November 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am
The marketing genius is Mr. Georges Du Bouef himself who made this big in the US starting 25 years ago. I worked with French American Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles to create the largest gathering in Los Angeles to celebrate Beaujolais. We had the Beaujolais Passions event that had about 1,200 attendees. Mostly French and Franchophile all there to have a great time. http://www.beaujolaispassions.com
November 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Easy…Kool-aid for young drinkers.
Nothing wrong with that…sometimes it is good to not be to “serious” with ones wines, and that is great! Young drinkers can find this wine type accessible, they have a great marketing angle, the packaging is again accessible (lots of colors) and it is cheap.
Hey-what more can you ask for for a refreshing bit of wine…as long as you do not expect it to be more than a sweet, refreshing bit of mine.
Hats off to this marketing!
Best,
Allan Guy
December 1st, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Beaujolais nouveau is easy to kick around. It’s over marketed and wine is typically chapitalized - sugar is added to the wine must to increase alcohol content- making it taste like alcoholized grape juice. In any case its drinkable and any annual celebration that is centered around wine is a good idea in my opinion.
I just came across this book about the phenomenon. Looks like a good read?
I’ll Drink to That: Beaujolais and the French Peasant Who Made It the World’s Most Popular Wine
by Rudolph Chelminski
December 1st, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I’m a big fan of Cru Beaujolais and think that it is a vastly underappreciated category of wine. While Nouveau is a wholly different beverage, I enjoyed it in the past as a fun, inexpensive wine.
This year a bottle of Nouveau was up to $17 in the Memphis area and it was my least favorite vintage since I started keeping notes in 2004. I’m interested to see how things fare next year; I might just skip the annual bottle.
I’ve written about this on my blog, and in the comments you’ll see responses from people in the wine distribution and retail sectors:
http://wine-by-benito.blogspot.com/2008/11/2008-georges-dub-beaujolais-nouveau.html
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:01 am
The sad fact is that Beaujoalis Nouveau’s success may be the worst thing to have happened to the actual “brand” beaujolais.
Most consumers dont know much so for them Nouveau IS beaujolais.
Many CRU producers have begun taking the term off thier own labels and just selling unsder that CRU appelation, further confusing what beaujolais is in consumers mind.
Classic example of marketing backfire if you ask me.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:49 am
Hands down, it’s marketing 101 at its best. You have to give credit where it’s due, and it’s certainly due here. However, there are many good wines made in Beaujolais and most of them often don’t get a second look by wine drinkers because they assume it will be the same plonk that the Nouveau is. Unfortunately, the region has become stigmatized to some degree because of it’s red-headed stepchild. Nonetheless, it was a genius marketing scheme. My main gripe at this point is not just that the wine is one step above grape juice, but that it leaves a terrible carbon footprint because of its hype. The scurry to get it into stores in time for the rush of Thanksgiving drinkers creates a shipping situation that otherwise wouldn’t exist, and I think if most environmentally conscious consumers realized how bad the footprint was, they might think twice before buying a bottle.
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