Suzy Says

It’s the third Thursday in November, and you know what that means! It’s Beaujolais Nouveau Day! You can’t buy it before this day each year, so it’s a special occasion. Since it’s also close to Thanksgiving, it has become a family tradition to serve Beaujolais Nouveau with our Thanksgiving feast. This seems appropriate, since Dad’s family originally came from France (maybe I can blame my rabid francophilia on that long-ago connection) and my mother is American, and what can be more American than Thanksgiving?

So after work, I ran a few pleasant errands, which included the French bakery, where I learned that they were out of ficelle, so I settled for a baguette instead. And I had to indulge my obsession with their incredible canel&eacutes de Bordeaux. As I crossed the street to go to the wine shop, I saw John’s barber strolling along the street, smoking a cigarette. He gave me the raised eyebrows, which is his way of waving or saying hi. It seemed odd to see him there, although the barber shop he works in is only about 5 blocks away. Such is the way of neighborhoods.

I also passed a guy who was arguing passionately with his wife or girlfriend on his cell phone. I think he was losing the argument, because what he mostly said was “Cindy! Cindy!” like he was trying to interrupt Cindy’s tirade. When he was finally able to get a word in, he said, “Can’t you believe me? It was just a coincidence.” I didn’t believe him, and I’m not even Cindy.

In the wine shop, everything was festive for Beaujolais Nouveau Day. They were playing Edith Piaf and sat at the tasting bar with me and chatted as I sampled three different kinds of Beaujolais Nouveau. It was really fun to discuss the three different kinds with them, also French wine in general and Beaujolais in particular. I hardly ever get to use the phrase “appelation contr?ll?” in everyday conversation.

In the end, I rejected the Georges Duboeuf in favor of Domaine Dupeuble (and not just because it had one of my favorite Jefferson quotes on the back label: “Good wine is a necessity of life to me”) and Domaine Piron. I think they’ll do quite well for the big feast. And I’ll be thankful that my father taught me to love and know good wine, among so many other things.