Thursday, 17 November 2011 08:59 Dine & Cook Staff Report

The Japanese were the first to try this year's much-anticipated Beaujolais Nouveau-- Japan is the wine's biggest importer and gets the first taste each year due to its time zone.

But it is the French who pay the most attention to this unique wine-- they make up more than 50 percent of its overall sales. Critics who've already sampled this year's release say they've found its aroma "surprising." Paris wine merchant Thierry Plenyet told the Associated Press, "There is a lovely aroma of black fruit. This is what characterizes it. Quite pure. And as for the taste, it's doesn't taste of wood, it retains a lot of freshness."

Known for its inconsistency in the past, experts say this year's Beaujolais Nouveau keeps up the tradition of quality for a resonable price. However, this year's release is said to be on the sweet side.

Part of the wine's uniqueness comes from a rule in place since 1985. The rule states that Beaujolais Nouveau cannot be uncorked until the start of the first minute of the third Thursday of November. Due to the unusual rule, midnight tasting parties were held worldwide to celebrate this year's first pour.

Beaujolais Nouveau is produced by 3,000 small wine growing estates in France's Beaujolais region near Lyon from one grape variety, Gamay Noir a Jus Blanc. Grapes are often picked in the tradional way by hand and are then left to macerate for a period of four to five days. The process produces a fresh, light taste and a low alcohol content.

The wine was officially born in 1951 after a French decree allowed newly harvested wines to be sold a month before wines meant to be kept. Since then the wine has fallen in and out of fashion several times. Globaly, sales are down nearly 50 percent from 2002, to to around 36 million bottles a year.