World wide wine event in Panama this month

By Lourdes Quijada

On the third Thursday of November every year (that’s November 17 this year)  the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau from the Burgundy region are opened in France.

The wine is also shipped  around the world and any day now I am expecting in my email, a notice from Felipe Motta  announcing that the latest offering has arrived in Panama.

My husband, who hails from Wales, points out that in his home town Caerdydd,(Cardiff)  they have gone one further with the annual announcement, cleverly  linking the new beverage to over 2,000 years of history. 

Cardiff Castle surrounds the Norman Keep,  on the base of an earlier fortress dating back to the Romans.

The fortress was built by the Normans led by “William the Bastard” soon after their invasion of Britain in 1066. They moved quickly to try to control the unruly Welsh,  but have now found more subtle way of making their mark with a nation that still occasionally uses the moniker attached to William when France faces Wales on the rugby field.

Beaujolais Nouveau  will arrive on British shores early on the morning of the 17th and be distributed across the country so that thousands of enthusiasts can be among the first to enjoy it.

Cardiff Castle is participating in this tradition by inviting customers to taste the first Beaujolais Nouveau of the year and enjoy a scrumptious four course French style lunch menu whilst enjoying live music and an entertainment program. Tickets are £35.

It sounds like the perfect way to combine history and fine living, but sadly my involvement in preparing for the Welcome Back Snowbirds reception at Oldies on November 21, rules out a visit.

So I will have to taste this year’s beverage at home. Just waiting for the message from Valérie Avila deMontulé at Felipe Motta.

Maybe I will meet some of my readers at the check out.