2020: The year that could even ruin a wine holiday

By Dan & Krista Stockman

To say 2020 has been disappointing is an understatement.

Sure, there have been some great moments and opportunities to learn life lessons as a result of the pandemic. But many of the things we look forward to most have been sidelined – family gatherings, concerts, summer festivals, buying paper products whenever you want or need them, etc.

Through it all, though, we’ve had our wine. Even when all stores were closed, wineries and liquor stores had curbside service in a pinch. (We never actually needed to use that kind of service, thanks to our wine cellar, but it got close.) When we couldn’t gather with friends over wine, we gathered with wine over Zoom. It wasn’t the same, of course, but it was appreciated.

When the calendar turned to November a few weeks ago, that meant one thing to us: Nouveau Day is near! Nouveau Day, for those not familiar, is the day the first wine of the vintage is released in France. You can buy Beaujolais all year, of course – and we highly recommend that you do – but Beaujolais Nouveau is only available in November (starting the third Thursday of the month) and December, and should be consumed by New Year’s Day.

Beaujolais Nouveau is a fun, festive wine. It’s a party in a glass. It’s like New Year’s Eve for wine. It’s a new beginning.

We figured that things might not be going as planned this year, but at least we’ll have Nouveau to celebrate.

Then 2020 said: Think again.

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