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Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2019
RedFrance2019
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-12-01 · Published 2026-09-14 · Updated 2026-09-14
At a glance
Nouveau, meant for immediate drinking, rarely gets formal critic scores · none listed on Vivino
Market note: Duboeuf's Nouveau ships every year with its flower-painted labels to major markets like the US and Japan; Vivino's average has held between 3.5 and 3.6 since 2019.
What this wine is
Beaujolais Nouveau is made and sold within two months of harvest. By law it releases worldwide at midnight (local time) on the third Thursday of every November, usually made by carbonic maceration: whole clusters, stems and all, sit in a sealed tank flooded with CO2, so fermentation starts inside the intact grape. Color and aroma extract fast; tannin barely does. The result is a light, fresh wine driven by strawberry, banana and candy notes. The grape is Beaujolais's native Gamay, 100%.
Georges Duboeuf started as a négociant (a merchant who buys grapes and makes/sells the wine) in 1964. With his labels' bright flower paintings, he introduced Beaujolais Nouveau to the US and Japanese markets on a grand scale and earned the nicknames 'the king of Beaujolais' (le roi du Beaujolais) and 'the pope of Beaujolais' (pape du Beaujolais). He built the house into one of France's largest négociants, producing over 2.5 million cases a year, and died in January 2020 at 86, having handed the company to his son Franck in 2018. This bottle is Beaujolais-Villages — a step up from base Beaujolais, from grapes grown in designated village communes — at 12.2% alcohol.
What the world says
Nouveau simply isn't the kind of wine major critics score. I couldn't find a formal review of the 2019 Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau from Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate.
On Vivino, the label overall (all vintages) averages 3.4 across 5,224 ratings; the 2019 vintage alone averages 3.5 across 322. Only 28% rate it 4 or above — the bulk, 65%, sits at 3 stars, which fits its identity as a casual, seasonal wine. The keywords lead with strawberry, cherry and raspberry (338 mentions), then banana and yogurt (the microbio group, 90), then blueberry and plum (74). Structurally, acidity is 4.6/5 — the highest of any wine in this magazine so far — and intensity is 1.2, the lowest. The vintage averages have crept up gently from 3.2 in 2014 to 3.6 in 2025.
"Light, smooth dry drinkable wine. Cherry, strawberry red fruit — a strong, enjoyable experience for the price. I love the new French wines." — Vivino review, Nov 2020, 3.5 stars
"Vanilla, strawberry, raspberry, banana, cotton candy, bubblegum. Very light, dry and good acidity, fresh." — Vivino review, Dec 2019, 3.5 stars
"Raspberry, cotton candy, minerals. Almost no tannin. Texture like mineral water. Very refreshing." — Vivino review, Nov 2019, 3.5 stars
How I drank it
December 1, 2019, 3 stars. The note is one line: "Strawberry ~"
That year's Nouveau released worldwide on November 21 — the third Thursday of November — so I opened this bottle ten days after release. The same day I gave 4 stars to Magnotta's Limited Edition Cabernet Franc Icewine ("Strawberry jam, so sweet!") and to Château d'Yquem 2008 ("Honey, cedar, apricot, balanced"). Both are sweeter, fruit-forward wines; the dry, acid-driven Nouveau got the lower score.
My 3 sits right beside the community's 3.5 for the 2019 vintage, and close to the 3.4 overall. There's no real question of re-tasting or re-scoring here — Nouveau isn't a wine that ages into a different judgment; it's replaced by next year's harvest before that question could even arise.
Vivino community data
2019 vintage rating distribution (322 ratings, average 3.5)
| 5★ | 10 (3%) | |
| 4★ | 82 (25%) | |
| 3★ | 208 (65%) | |
| 2★ | 18 (6%) | |
| 1★ | 4 (1%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Red fruit | 338 | strawberry 95 · cherry 77 · raspberry 59 · red fruit 33 · cranberry 23 |
| Microbio | 90 | banana 65 · yogurt 10 · yeast 6 · cheese 4 · cream 3 |
| Black fruit | 74 | blueberry 18 · blackberry 14 · plum 13 · jam 6 · cassis 6 |
| Spice | 37 | licorice 11 · pepper 9 · cinnamon 3 · savory 3 · mint 2 |
| Earth & mineral | 35 | minerals 8 · earthy 5 · balsamic 4 · stone 4 · mushroom 3 |
| Oak | 35 | vanilla 15 · oak 5 · chocolate 4 · caramel 3 · butter 2 |
Structure: Acidity 4.6/5 · Intensity 1.2/5 · Tannin 1.8/5 · Sweetness 1.6/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 5224 ratings, average 3.4)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3.4 | 75 |
| 2012 | 3.4 | 130 |
| 2013 | 3.3 | 310 |
| 2014 | 3.2 | 585 |
| 2015 | 3.3 | 453 |
| 2016 | 3.3 | 529 |
| 2017 | 3.3 | 333 |
| 2018 | 3.3 | 446 |
| 2019 | 3.5 | 322 |
| 2020 | 3.5 | 396 |
| 2021 | 3.5 | 349 |
| 2022 | 3.6 | 263 |
| 2023 | 3.6 | 178 |
| 2024 | 3.5 | 137 |
| 2025 | 3.6 | 123 |
My original note (Vivino, 2019-12-01)
“Strawberry ~”
Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau?
A very light-bodied red from the French négociant house Georges Duboeuf in Beaujolais. 100% Gamay, fermented briefly by carbonic maceration and released the same year, on the third Thursday of November. 12.2% alcohol, a light, fresh style of strawberry, cherry and banana; Vivino 3.5 (2019 vintage, 322 ratings).
Why is Beaujolais Nouveau always released on the third Thursday of November?
It's been the fixed worldwide release date under French appellation rules since 1985 — a wine made within two months of that year's harvest, meant to be drunk at its freshest. Georges Duboeuf is widely credited with turning that release into a global marketing moment, especially in the US and Japan.
How much does it cost?
US$9 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, last listed Nov 2024).
What is carbonic maceration?
Whole, uncrushed grape clusters sit sealed in a tank flooded with carbon dioxide; fermentation begins inside the intact grape berry using its own enzymes. Color and aroma extract quickly while almost no tannin is drawn out — this is why Nouveau tastes so light and fruity.