BAGMA members can join the fun on 17th November…

Beaujolais Nouveau Day, one of the fun events in the international wine calendar, is fast approaching. Always the third Thursday in November, the date this year is the 17th.

To mark the occasion – a rare chance to taste one of the first wines from this year’s harvest – BAGMA Wine Club is teaming up with Wickhams Wine for a couple of events and to offer members a couple of bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau, which will be delivered to your home in time for this special celebration of the 2022 vintage.

Despite being hit by extreme weather patterns – including heatwaves, hailstones and storms – the quantity and quality of this light red French wine looks good this year. Cécile and Alain Dardenelli of Domaine Bel Avenir, who are supplying the Beaujolais Nouveau to BAGMA Wine Club, tell us the grapes have a good balance of fruity flavours and refreshing acidity. But you can judge for yourself and also compare a Beaujolais Nouveau with a couple of more serious red wines from the Beaujolais region.

Although Beaujolais Nouveau is the most famous wine from this region, we also want BAGMA members to try a Beaujolais-Villages wine (a serious step up from Nouveau) and a top-tier ‘cru’ wine – from one of the best vineyards in the appellation.

So, for this month’s wine club offer, we have partnered with Wickhams on a special mixed case of Beaujolais wines:

  • 2 x Beaujolais Nouveau 2022 from Domaine Bel Avenir – a light and fruity red;
  • 2 x Les Pivoines, Beaujolais-Villages 2020 – a juicy, fresh and approachable red wine;
  • 2 x Clos du Vieux Bourg ‘Croix Penet’ 2021 – flavours of red summer fruits with an enticing spicy note and a long finish to show the high quality of Régnié, the youngest of the Beaujolais crus.

Price is £70 including delivery. To non-BAGMA members the price would be £82.50.

To secure your order in time for Beaujolais Nouveau Day, go to this special page https://Wickhamswine.co.uk/bagma-beaujolais-selection/.

The case will be dispatched on 15th November.

Members of the BAGMA Wine Club are also invited to take part in Wickhams’ special Beaujolais Nouveau events on November 17:

  • 8.30am – Beaujolais Breakfast at Exeter Rougemont Hotel (£30);
  • 6.30pm – Free online tasting of Beaujolais Nouveau with Wickhams owner Dan Farrell-Wright and event manager Pip Vanham (free to anyone buying the mixed case).

Two things to know about Beaujolais

Most of the red wines in the region are made from the Gamay grape. This is a thin, delicate, purple-black skinned grape that was banished from neighbouring Burgundy in 1395 but realised its full potential in the hills of Beaujolais.

Another feature of Beaujolais wines is the production method. Most of the wines feature an element of carbonic maceration. This means whole bunches are fermented in a carbon dioxide-filled tank, resulting in light red wines with red-fruit flavours of strawberry, raspberry and cherry, plus notes of banana, grape and bubble-gum.

How to join the club

Firstly, you don’t need to join the BAGMA Wine Club to take advantage of this fantastic offer from Wickhams.

Secondly, joining is simple and free. All you need to do is send an email to membership@bagma.com saying you’re interested in joining. This is mainly so we can contact you with news of special events and offers if they don’t coincide with the publication of the BAGMA Bulletin.

If you missed the last issue and are wondering why BAGMA has launched a wine club, it’s because our part-time editor Chris Boiling also works in the wine world and we are taking advantage of his great access to wine producers.