Every year, on the third Thursday of November, bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau roll out from the French winemaking region, representing the area’s latest vintage. Packaged only weeks after harvest, these wines are meant to be consumed young, within months of purchase.

I recently sampled the 2024 releases with Franck Duboeuf, CEO of Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, and son of the late, legendary Georges Duboeuf, who popularized the Nouveau tradition. The CEO discussed this year’s vintage, along with strategies that can help attract younger consumers into the wine category.

The 2024 Beaujolais Nouveau winemaking season was “challenging,” Duboeuf said. A cool winter caused the vines to wake early. Flowering went well in May, but subsequent unseasonal weather brought difficulties. With “lots of rain and cooler temperatures, we slowly lost our optimism,” Duboeuf recalled. Disease was an issue as well. Reflecting issues faced by many French winemakers in 2024, Beaujolais lost about 30% of their crop.

Harvest began a week later than in 2023, at the beginning of September. Finally, the climate complied with long days and high temperatures. A month of good weather culminated in bottling by the tenth of October. Despite the difficulties, Duboeuf described the 2024 vintage as “quality.”

“It’s true Beaujolais,” he said. “Easy drinking and very balanced. It has a hint of acidity. It invites you to drink more glasses of this wine. It’s very approachable.”

Subtlety is the name of the 2024 Beaujolais Nouveau. “This vintage has less of an effect in the glass than the last two,” Duboeuf says. “I recommend serving it slightly chilled, because the tannins are not as present” as in the prior two vintages.

The 2024 lineup from Georges Duboeuf includes their Beaujolais Nouveau ($14.99), the fuller-bodied Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau ($15.99), Beaujolais Nouveau Rosé ($15.99) and the increasingly popular Orange Nouveau ($15.99).

This marks the second time that Orange Nouveau has released in the U.S. This is a white wine where the grape skins were not removed during production but left to remain in contact with the juice for a period of time.

“We make ours the traditional way, keeping the maceration as long as possible,” Duboeuf says. “We’re pleased with this release because it has clean aromas, and is fruity and spicy on the nose. The palate has good acidity and a little tannins that give it its character.”

Elsewhere in the 2024 portfolio, Duboeuf explained how the brand was increasingly highlighting the diverse terroirs of Beaujolais. For instance, the difference between the 2024 Beaujolais Nouveau, which hails from the southern AOC, and Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau, which comes from 38 villages in an AOC that’s more centrally located.

Sand, clay, limestone, granite and schist are all present in the southern soil, while Beaujolais Villages terroir is more granite and schist. The result is Beaujolais Nouveau being more subtle on the palate, compared with jammier flavors in the Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau. The 2024 Villages, in particular, presents darker fruit than in past years. 

Beaujolais Rosé, 100% gamay in traditional regional style, remains a growing category, Duboeuf reported. “The gamay grape is suitable for rosé, which leads with red berries and white fruit on the nose.” More of the same on the palate, making for an easy-drinking wine, hard to put down.

Rounding out the tasting were the 2022 Lieu-Dit Fleurie La Madone ($27.99) and 2022 Lieu-Dit Morgon Côte Du Py ($29.99). The Fleurie displays subtle complexity — fruity, floral, and well-rounded — while the Morgon is bolder, with dark cherries and ripe fruits.

During the tasting, the question came up: How to handle wine’s current problem of attracting younger consumers? Millennials (speaking as one) remain largely uneducated about wine, while Gen Z hardly drinks alcohol.

Georges Duboeuf has responded with updated marketing and packaging. The company’s recent “It Never Gets Old” program for Nouveau is a cheeky play on words more in line with Gen Z attitudes — authentic and off the cuff. Images in this advertising are social and laid back: record players, lipstick, dominoes, cheese. The 2024 portfolio is also the first with a screwcap on every Nouveau bottle, a nod to younger consumers drinking in smaller amounts.

Additionally, Georges Duboeuf has leaned more into tasting events in the form of relaxed social gatherings. Education also remains important, teaching consumers about the people behind this multi-generational brand that first popularized the Nouveau style globally, and continues the tasty tradition through today.

Kyle Swartz is editor of Beverage Dynamics. Reach him at kswartz@epgmediallc.com. Read his recent piece, Wine Cellar Celebrates 50 Years of Success.