Japan gets first taste of Beaujolais Nouveau

Ahead of its release on 21st November the first Beaujolais Nouveau arrived at Tokyo airport and will be available for 2,400 yen per bottle.

Japan is the largest buyer of the young wine outside France, accounting for more than half of overseas sales. The country take three times more Beaujolais Nouveau than the US. The third Thursday in November marks the official debut of Beaujolais, and the Japanese, because of their time zone, are first to get a taste.

It was reported that the Japanese went crazy for Beaujolais Nouveau in the late 1980s, when the French shipped and stored bottles of the weeks old and barely fermented wine to Japan in advance of the release date. Under vineyard rules, not a drop of Beaujolais Nouveau could be touched before the third Thursday of November arrived.