Beaujolais Nouveau in Japan

[Mulboyne]

As the article below says, it's on sale from today. 7-11 stores, if I read the sign correctly, are selling Georges Duboeuf (30% of Japan imports) for 711 yen. I'm sure I saw the same bottles in a bar last night for 5000 yen.
Kyodo via Yahoo: Year's 1st shipments of Beaujolais Nouveau arrives in Japan

The first shipments of Beaujolais Nouveau arrived at Narita and Kansai airports early Thursday and will go on sale Nov. 18, with record high imports expected this year.
This year's imports of the French wine, which is traditionally released for consumption on the third Thursday in November worldwide, are expected to increase by about 20 percent from last year to a record 850,000 cases, each containing 12 750-milliliter bottles, importers said. Last year's imports were also a record at 700,000 cases.
A public relations official of Asahi Breweries Ltd. said this year's wine tastes good because of good weather from mid-September to early October in France, when wine grapes were harvested. The company's survey showed that about 80 percent of people planning to buy the wine said they would enjoy it at home.

Matsutoh Liquor Shop: Guide to Quality Beaujolais Nouveau

2003 FG Thread: Le Japon No. 1 in purple plonk!
Comparing the numbers above with 2003 bottle sales stats:
Japan: 7,200,000
Germany: 7,000,000
United States: 4,000,000
Certainly looks like Japan is way out in front now for buying the marketing men's line.

[Taro Toporific]

AFP/Getty Images: 2004 vintage Beaujolais Nouveau wine party on November 18, 2004 in Tokyo

[Captain Japan]

Yeah, I never quite understood this. Convenience stores sell this stuff when it comes out for over 2,000 yen. Then a few months later it can be had in the same places for 1/3 the price. Bottoms up!

[Captain Japan]

I've never once heard anyone say anything nice about Japanese wine so I offer this...
BizTrend: Domestically made wines tasting success among enthusiasts
Kyodo

While a wide selection of imported wines are on sale in liquor shops, domestically produced wines using only grapes grown in Japan are increasingly finding a place on the tables of wine enthusiasts.
To further popularize domestic wine, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan's largest wine producer, began holding a contest for the product last year in which European critics were invited to take part.

Organizers say Japanese wine, produced with the same kinds of grapes as in other wine-producing countries, is starting to garner high marks around the world.

A wine brand produced by the Sapporo Breweries Ltd. group won a gold medal in the contest this year for the second straight year.

"Wine production takes a long time. First, we have to find land suited to grape growing, and repeat trials and errors in growing methods and preparing ingredients for the production process. And finally, such efforts have borne fruit," said Sapporo Breweries' Toshiyuki Sayama.

Of course, there's the obligatory cliche...

"Taking Japanese sensitivity into consideration, our goal is to produce wine of the highest quality and great delicacy," said Katsuhisa Fujino, who is in charge of domestically produced wine for the company.

[Taro Toporific]

I had to visit the Merican Winery every harvest season for years and it got to be I would BEG for for free grape juice for kids rather than their wine. Having said that, Japanese grapes are similar to New York grapes...although most New York wines are undistinguished, a few are ok. I assume the Japanese are using the same methods as were used in New York.
For wine making, the HUGE sweet grapes that grow in Japan (and New York) are bad news and they need special hybrid grapes that will grow with less sugar in them. It's a difficult task but not impossible to find better grapes for Japan. The real problem is harvesting---there are no people in Yamanashi Pref. under the age of 60.

[Mulboyne]

Wine International: Japan remains focus for Beaujolais Nouveau
As Western Europe continues to lose its excitement for the annual Beaujolais Nouveau launch festivities, attention turns once again to Japan, the top market for the wine. Japan overtook the United States last year as the region's leading export market, and once again planeloads of Nouveau are being freighted to Asia in time for the official launch of the 2005 Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday (17th November). However, observers in Japan note that many bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau remained on shop shelves for many months after the launch of the 2004 vintage last year. Meanwhile, the wine will also be launched officially for the first time in China this year, with tastings in 'the bars and fashionable venues of Beijing and Shanghai', according to producers...more...

[cstaylor]

I've had that yamanashi wine before. It's sweet enough to be a desert wine... not really good for dinner.

I was up near Nagatacho for business a couple of weeks back, and there's this great steak restaurant in the ANA hotel. I ordered a glass of an Australian red wine that was very good.

Which leads to my question, can anyone recommend a good import store, preferrably in the Yokohama area, that has a good selection of Australian wines?

[dingosatemybaby]

Yeah, I never quite understood this. Convenience stores sell this stuff when it comes out for over 2,000 yen. Then a few months later it can be had in the same places for 1/3 the price. Bottoms up!

That's because, after a couple of months, BN goes from being just merde to vinegar-flavored merde, suitable for industrial use only

[Mulboyne]

The defences have been breached.

[Greji]

The defences have been breached.

While not a great wine drinker, I enjoy certain types. Beaujolais Nouveau is not one. But still, you have to marvel at the importers. What a great sales build up. Very few FGs I know will drink Beaujolais by choice, unless it is involved the something Japanessey for business. I have never met anyone from France who has spoke highly of it.

However, they have built this annual "craze" for the arrival and attempt to have the first bottle or drink of the wine into an amazing venture.

Granted it is not as big as several years back, but a lot of J-people, men and women, that I know are already talking about the arrival of this years "crop". What a great business effort this has been and even more amazingly, continues to be.

[FG Lurker]

While not a great wine drinker, I enjoy certain types. Beaujolais Nouveau is not one. But still, you have to marvel at the importers. What a great sales build up. Very few FGs I know will drink Beaujolais by choice, unless it is involved the something Japanessey for business. I have never met anyone from France who has spoke highly of it.

All I can do is shake my head about the BN craze here. Really, the stuff tastes like shit. It's horrible!

I too marvel at the importers and marketers involved in this. Very impressive how they have managed to build such a huge demand for such a crap product. I suppose the Japanese public will catch on sooner or later though... Hopefully, anyway.

[dingosatemybaby]

While not a great wine drinker, I enjoy certain types. Beaujolais Nouveau is not one. But still, you have to marvel at the importers. What a great sales build up. Very few FGs I know will drink Beaujolais by choice, unless it is involved the something Japanessey for business. I have never met anyone from France who has spoke highly of it.

All I can do is shake my head about the BN craze here. Really, the stuff tastes like shit. It's horrible!

I too marvel at the importers and marketers involved in this. Very impressive how they have managed to build such a huge demand for such a crap product. I suppose the Japanese public will catch on sooner or later though... Hopefully, anyway.

I think I posted last year that I was actually told by a French guy hawking BN at a Ginza department store that BN was just shiate, but the Japanese didn't know the difference and didn't care anyway - as long as it's French. I admired his candidness, but I was a little surprised at his contempt for Japanese consumers.

[FG Lurker]

I think I posted last year that I was actually told by a French guy hawking BN at a Ginza department store that BN was just shiate, but the Japanese didn't know the difference and didn't care anyway - as long as it's French. I admired his candidness, but I was a little surprised at his contempt for Japanese consumers.

Yeah, the French guys I know here also say it is total shit, but that the fun is the tradition of drinking it on the night it is released... Somehow managing to create an "instant tradition" of this in Japan is marketing genius at its finest. I'm not sure if we should shoot the folks who managed to pull this off or congratulate them.

[dimwit]

Wine International: Japan remains focus for Beaujolais Nouveau
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A more cynical view about Beaujolais Nouveau can seen here:

Can Japan sales save Beaujolais Nouveau

...Beaujolais growers reportedly pushed yields into the stratosphere. Of course, many vineyards couldn't completely ripen under such heavy fruit loads, but not to worry, chapitalization (a genteel term for adding sugar to the fermentation vat to goose the potential alcohol levels of underripe juice) is legal in all of France. Growers with a pass to the local beet sugar warehouse could keep pumping out volume without worrying about ripeness (c'est la vie). Quality, of course, took a commensurate hit, but with the "race" capturing public imagination, no one seemed to mind (sharp wits in the wine trade used to joke that the only characteristic aroma of Beaujolais Nouveau was the scent of cash flow)....

Following a trees-grow-to-the-sky "planning" philosophy, Japanese importers brought in an astounding 1 million cases of '04 Beaujolais Nouveau, almost all by ruinously expensive airfreight. While Nouveau is best consumed within a few weeks of release, and generally never after Jan. 1, WANDS magazine reported that Beaujolais Nouveau was spotted lingering on retailers' shelves well into the spring, and in some supermarkets even into August -- so much for a refreshing, just-picked taste.

[Greji]

-snip-"....While Nouveau is best consumed within a few weeks of release, and generally never after Jan. 1, WANDS magazine reported that Beaujolais Nouveau was spotted lingering on retailers' shelves well into the spring, and in some supermarkets even into August -- so much for a refreshing, just-picked taste...."

You can find it almost any time of the year at various spots in Tokyo, but right off the vine or not, I can't get into it. So much for the vaunted "taste sensitivity" of the Japanese grape guzzlers! But as others have posted, the parties for the first releases are great!

[Mulboyne]

Telegraph: King of Beaujolais is convicted over adulterated wines

A French wine producer who rose from humble origins to claim the laurel of the "King of Beaujolais" was yesterday convicted of defrauding wine drinkers by mixing low-grade wine with fine vintages. Georges Duboeuf, 72, the erstwhile toast of connoisseurs and top chefs, was found guilty of "fraud and attempted fraud concerning the origin and quality of wines" and fined 30,000 euros...Grapes from the superior Beaujolais "crus", or growing areas, such as Juliénas, Saint-Amour and Morgon, were mixed together and in turn added to the lesser Beaujolais--Villages, whose 2004 harvest was considered poor quality. Such practice is banned under strict rules governing the wine trade, even though the aim was to improve the inferior wine. It was condemned as "shocking" by appellation controlée inspectors...more...

[Taro Toporific]

A more cynical view about Beaujolais Nouveau can seen here:
Can Japan sales save Beaujolais Nouveau

Hmmmm. Things look bad for purple plonk this year in Japan. But hey, does anybody know what these "loopholes in the law" for drunk driving are?

Japan loses taste for Beaujolais
BBC News, Tokyo---Japan's first decline in imports of Beaujolais Nouveau in more than a decade is being blamed on new measures to fight drink-driving. Supermarkets have stopped offering free tastings after a crackdown on drink-driving following an accident in which a driver killed three children.
The young wine goes on sale next week, on the third Thursday in November....
....Supermarkets and retailers are more cautious about importing the wine because they have leftover stock from last year...
....Police have set up more checkpoints to try to catch those under the influence of alcohol.
But campaigners say there are loopholes in the law that allow those who cause accidents when drunk to avoid being prosecuted....

[Captain Japan]

Like square watermelon season it is that time of year to unveil this swill...
This year's Beaujolais Nouveau released to usual fanfare

This year's Beaujolais Nouveau was released at the stroke of midnight Wednesday with the usual fanfare in Japan.

The young wine produced in Beaujolais, Bourgogne, which is traditionally released for consumption worldwide on the third Thursday of November, is particularly popular with wine lovers in Japan.

Importers said this year's Beaujolais Nouveau is well-balanced between fruity and acidic flavors because of favorable weather conditions in France.

Japan is one of the first countries able to enjoy the wine each year due to time differences.

At the Epson Aqua Stadium aquarium at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward, a water tank for sharks and rays was highlighted with wine-red light to commemorate the release of the fresh wine.

[Mulboyne]

[Samurai_Jerk]

[IkemenTommy]

Yeah, the French guys I know here also say it is total shit, but that the fun is the tradition of drinking it on the night it is released... Somehow managing to create an "instant tradition" of this in Japan is marketing genius at its finest. I'm not sure if we should shoot the folks who managed to pull this off or congratulate them.

The Japanese people go crazy over this tradition and always pre-party the evening of the countdown. Unfortunately, they get too plastered and pass out before the real BN arrival.

[Ptyx]

It's not only in Japan, in France people get hammered on it too.
That's what it's for, it's a wine to get drunk on.
In France everyone knows beaujolais is shit, but it doesn't matter as you won't drink it after december.
Complaining about it is like saying you won't drink a beer because it's a budweiser.
The thing is, in Japan wine is seen as this noble drink and not just regular booze.
In France it's just booze.
It's the exact same thing with westerners drinking ozeki sake and feeling all classy cause it's nihonshu.

[maninjapan]

Just remember kids...

You can only buy classy wine to show off to your friends in your friendly local convini.

A mate and I were outside BicCamera in Fujisawa last night and got offered some of this stuff. We're not wine buffs but we can tell a shit bottle from a decent bottle.

There were a group of older women out, past their bed time I know, trying this and loving it. My mate tried it and said in Japanese "this is rubbish wine why do people drink it?". What was even better was when the assistant handing it out agreed with us and said they have better wines than this elsewhere.

The elderly women just looked at us and were shocked!

[IkemenTommy]

A mate and I were outside BicCamera in Fujisawa last night and got offered some of this stuff. We're not wine buffs but we can tell a shit bottle from a decent bottle.

Shit bottle like the twist-off kind without the cork!:doh:

[Greji]

Shit bottle like the twist-off kind without the cork!:doh:

They don't have zip tops do they?

[Mulboyne]

Shit bottle like the twist-off kind without the cork!:doh:

A lot of decent vineyards have been using screw-tops for a few years now.

[IkemenTommy]

A lot of decent vineyards have been using screw-tops for a few years now.

such as?

[ichigo partygirl]

such as?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwcap

"Corbett Canyon, R.H. Phillips, Hogue Cellars, Villa Maria"

http://www.screwcap.co.nz/grids/homepage.asp?id=218&area=1

"2006 Current estimates are that 90% of New Zealand wines will be sealed with a screwcap.

Wine consumers in many countries are now playing a real role in the change to screwcaps. Demand from informed consumers for quality packaging of wines is forcing many initially reluctant retailers, distributors and producers to provide a screwcap alternative in their premium wine ranges"

http://www.winebusiness.com/ReferenceLibrary/webarticle.cfm?dataId=43364

"The reasons for using screw caps rather than traditional cork or synthetic closures are varied, but many producers cite quality control as an overriding factor. "The initial motivation to move to screw caps was my profound unhappiness with the quality of corks at the time," said Grahm. "While there is no doubt that corks have improved in recent years, I have grown to love the screw cap and find it a superior closure to the cork for the following reasons: (1) absolutely no issues of either cork taint or the imparting of non-TCA cork flavors to the wine; (2) more reliable mechanical seal, vis-à-vis issues of leakage, oxygen intrusion, etc.; (3) more airtight seal, which means wines retain greater freshness and are capable of longer aging, and sulfur dioxide use can be minimized."

[baka tono]

Anyone know how much BN costs in France? Just wondering how much of the 2000- 3000 yen price tag is shipping cost.

[Ptyx]

2000-3000 yens ? Wow i didn't know it costed that much in Japan.
This is really expensive for BN, in France i'd say it's about 5-7euros for a bottle. So that's about a 1000 yens for the "expensive" one.
The thing is, BN is different in Japan it's not the same wine. I don't know if it's better but Japan gets its own "mix" of BN which is different than the one that is sold in France.
It is officialy "tailored" to the japanese taste.