Twenty-plus years ago, Melissa McAvoy was working in a French restaurant in Port St. Lucie, and it was during this time of year that the staff would come together for a celebratory luncheon. They’d don their Vin Georges Duboeuf pins, generally on the third Thursday of the month, and taste the year’s Beaujolais Nouveau release, made from gamay grapes and rife with light flavors — “banana-strawberry or strawberry margarita, even bubble gum,” she recalls.
And though McAvoy, now an advanced sommelier and owner of Orlando’s Swirlery Wine Bar in SoDo, has a far more sophisticated palate these days, the Beaujolais Day tradition — this year on Nov. 16 — has stuck. This will be Swirlery’s eighth annual Beaujolais soiree, a deep dive into styles of this popular, easy-drinking wine.
“I think it’s a perfect wine for Florida because it’s lower alcohol, a really nice, crisp red, and should be served chilled,” she notes. “And it pairs beautifully with some of the lighter food choices we often make because of the climate we live in. It’s an ideal wine to showcase.”
The Nouveau, she notes, is best known. Its colorful labels show up this time of year, bright and often flowery. “It’s associated with the end of harvest in Burgundy,” she explains, “but also happens to time well in America with the Thanksgiving holiday.”
The Nouveau employs a process called carbonic maceration, which “for me makes it sort of a guilty pleasure,” McAvoy jokes. “It’s made to be enjoyed really immediately. Using this technique, it’s fermented very fast at super cool temperatures, and so, just a fresh fun wine to enjoy quickly.”
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There are other Beaujolais varieties, however, that are deep-dive worthy. These are McAvoy’s favorites: the Crus. With these comes something of a geography lesson.
Beaujolais is a region in France that sits south of Burgundy. Within, there are 10 “crus” from north to south. These include St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly.
“It’s often like stepping back in time,” McAvoy says of the regions’ small, old-vine family operations. “These wineries have been passed down through generations. And when you meet these winemakers, you can’t help but fall in love with the wine. You want to share it every year and celebrate, but then enjoy it all year long.”
There is a variance in flavors from cru to cru, she notes, “lots of depth and minerality due in part to the soils,” and on Beaujolais Day at Swirlery, her annual selection will roam the region. Guests can sip and savor a few light bites or get as geeky as they like: Beaujolais and its gamay grapes are rife with drama.
“Hundreds of years ago, the Duke of Burgundy — they called him Phillip the Bold — wanted to make pinot noir famous in Burgundy, and so he banned the planting of gamay grapes in the northern part of the region.”
It was a long road to redemption for this now-beloved Beaujolais from the south, “and why it is such a special, unique part of Burgundy and its history.”
Swirlery’s tasting party ($30 at the door) starts at 6 p.m. and will take guests through all 10 crus, with bottles available for sale. There will be Nouveau, too, of course, “And maybe a little gamay from Oregon or elsewhere in the States, too.”
Parties here are casual, come as you are and wholly unpretentious, with lots of wine lovers eager to share what they know, exchange thoughts on the pours and just have fun. Dinner-party and gifting season is upon us, too, and so really, going to a wine shop is about the most unselfish thing you can do this time of year, really.
I’m reaching, I know.
But if you needed another excuse to get to know Beau, now you’ve got one. And you can share what you’ve learned with your hosts this season when you bring them a bottle.
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
