French Wine Carnival this weekend!
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!
For the French, wine is an art. But one Beaujolais Nouveau wine carnival has evolved into a 30-year-old global sport. “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” – the new Beaujolais has arrived! – is a common proclamation this time of year all over France. It marks the arrival of bottles of wine from the Beaujolais area to towns and cities around the world. The excitement is not about the flavour, but the race to go (in a few weeks) from crushed grapes to clinking wine glasses, and cheerful, hearty toasts of “Santé!”.
It’s a global carnival celebrating wine that is fresh off the vines. Wine snobs, this one is not for you: the very light taste of this purplish wine (closer to a white wine than red) that is meant to be drunk fast and chilled (instead of the classic slowly-sipped, room-temperature red wine). But Beaujolais continues to be a tradition with the French all around the world. And true, the race from grape to glass may be a little silly, but the fun is knowing that on the same night, in homes, cafes, restaurants, pubs/bars all around the world, the same celebration is taking place.
The third Thursday of November at midnight always marks the start of the carnival of Beaujolais worldwide. This year, Alliance Française is teaming up with the Jardin de Paris restaurant to bring you the new wine of the harvest. An evening of wine drinking, accompanied with gourmet food and dance music by DJ Babs and live music by singer Brigitte Rakotomalala for ambience. This evening promises to be a feast for the senses.
The event in Nairobi is being marked on Saturday (24th November) from 7.30 p.m at the Alliance Française.
There are two types of packages available:
- Formule Gourmet – sh 2000: 2 glasses of Beaujolais Nouveau, a large platter of assorted cheese, an assortment of French delicatessen & dessert for two.
- Formule découverte – sh 900: 1 glass of Beaujolais Nouveau, and assortment of French delicatessen.
Tickets to the event are being sold in advance. Bookings can be done on the following numbers : +254 (020) 340054/79 or +254 (0) 727 600 622.
What better excuse do you need to have an evening of indulging in lots of wine?
