On this Day 1980: Annual rush for the first Beaujolais Nouveau

OTD, November 20th 1980…

The race to serve the first Beaujolais Nouveau of the year took place ‘On this Day’ in 1980 as Geoff Meade reported. Stuart Nichol, an Oxfordshire landlord, clinched the race victory by chartering a private plane for the majority of the journey and completing the final leg in a convertible Bentley.

Dave Barry is seen arriving back in Cheltenham with his consignment of Beaujolais to the Bell Hotel at Charlbury and shot we also see Stuart Nichol arriving in his vintage Bentley. Inside the pub Stuart opens a bottle of the wine and samples it. Geoff Meade asked him why he did the race and how he managed to win while his wife, Nicola Nichol, shares her thoughts on the whole thing.

Beaujolais Nouveau, pronounced /ˌboʊʒəˈleɪ nuːˈvoʊ/ in English and [boʒɔlɛ nuvo] in French, is a red wine crafted from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region of France. It’s known as a vin de primeur, which is fermented for only a few weeks before being released on the third Thursday of November. Distributors are renowned for racing to deliver the first bottles to various markets worldwide.