The arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau was a thing, a big thing, in the Britain of the 1980s, with the media taking a huge interest.
But then we were a country where wine bars were suddenly everywhere. I remember drinking in one on the High Street in Market Harborough.
Loki remembers those days:
The United Kingdom fostered one of the most legendary traditions: the Beaujolais Run. Starting in the late 1970s, British wine lovers turned the release into an automotive race – participants dashed from England to Beaujolais and back, aiming to be first to deliver a bottle to London.
The competition saw everything from sports cars to the Royal Air Force take part (who in 1987 famously flew a case to RAF Brize Norton in a Harrier jet).
And then suddenly it wasn't a thing any more. Intriguingly, Loki says Beaujolais Day is still celebrated enthusiastically in Swansea. This year it falls on Thursday 19 November.
I remember seeing a photo of a Harrier landing on the old coal yard site at Kings Cross with the gasholders in the background. Dust everywhere. Was that a Beaujolais Nouveau stunt?
ReplyDeleteThat rings a bell.
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