"Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well-used." -William Shakespeare

Happy Beaujolais Nouveau! Yesterday was a big day here in Paris – the release of the first wine of the year. Beaujolais Nouveau, if I understand correctly, is a wine from the Beaujolais region near Lyon that is made from grapes that are harvested very early. (The sooner you drink it, the better.) Everyone freaks out on an annual basis when the first bottles are released to the public, and yesterday was the day. All the restaurants put up big signs in their windows that say “Il est arrivé!” (“It has arrived!”) and the supermarkets have huge displays of it for sale. The best, however, was when my French professor brought in three bottles of it and we all drank wine and ate cheese crackers during class. If I wasn’t already in love with France, I would be now.
My buzz was a little dampened, however, when I got home and wished Madame happy B.N., and she sniffed, “Oh, but that is market wine. Pas très bon, eh?” I guess when your boyfriend owns a chateau/vineyard, you can afford to be a little bit of a wine snob.
In a way, she’s right – it’s actually very inexpensive and not known for its quality, but I find it delicious. I guess that’s proof that drinking a lot of wine does not a wine connoisseur make…
My childhood best friends Lesley and Steph are coming to visit me tomorrow. Their trip was a little spontaneous, which makes it all the more exciting! I can’t wait to see them.