Good Thursday morning. We’re back! Bright and early, as promised.
I gave up drinking about a decade ago – not for any particular reason other than I didn’t like the way it made me feel, especially after the fact, and I got to a point in my life where I preferred to eat my calories rather than drink them.
From a performance standpoint – sports and otherwise – eliminating alcohol just made things a lot easier, especially when it came to getting up early in the morning. Also, as one gets older, the recovery part gets harder, I find.
This is not to say that I don’t miss having a good drink now and again. I was especially partial to a well-mixed bourbon old fashioned and also wouldn’t say no to a Negroni. However, more often than not, my drink of choice was wine – red in the fall and winter, white or rose in the summer.
This was a habit that I picked up while spending my junior year abroad in Montpellier, France, where wine is a common accompaniment on the table – even mixed with water for kids under the legal drinking age.
I don’t want to give the impression that I was a some sort of oenophile. I never became much of a wine connoisseur. In fact, I often found going to the wine store a rather stressful experience. So many choices, so little knowledge on my part.
I did, however, enjoy a good glass of beaujolais now and again. The interwebs inform me that Beaujolais is, in fact, a region in eastern France, who is known for its production of eponymous red wine based on a variety of grape known as Gamay (full name: Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc).
The Beaujolais region is home to some 4,000 vineyards that produce 12 officially-designated types of Beaujolais. The Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) is a regulatory commission that establishes the rules by which all French wines are governed. It makes sure that producers using specific names for their wine (Champagne, is a big one) follow the necessary guidelines to do so.
If that sounds complicated, it is. The French take their wines very seriously.
Even non-wine drinkers have probably heard of Beaujolais Nouveau, the aging period (élevage) of which is a mere few weeks after the grapes are harvested as opposed to months or even years.
The resulting wine, which is slightly sweet and not full-bodied due in part to its short time in the barrel, is available in the same season in which the grapes were harvested, AKA a “young” wine that is low in bitter tannins and considered easily drinkable. It is best served chilled and not at all snobby. An entry-level wine, if you will.
Beaujolais Nouveau is also made in a slightly different manner from other reds, using a technique called “carbonic maceration”, during which entire bunches of grapes are placed in sealed vats. The vats are then filled with CO2 to remove the oxygen, triggering an internal process known as “intracellular fermentation.”
If you really want to go down the rabbit hole on this, and also to learn the difference between carbonic maceration and semi-carbonic maceration, click here.
The annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau is a big deal in France. It is legally required that the wine be released at 12:01 a.m. exactly three weeks after the grapes used to make it were harvested. That date falls on the third Thursday in November, which happens to be today.
The first wine of the season is feted in a big way – with parties and music and fireworks and, of course, wine. Lots and lots of wine.
I attended quite a few Beaujolais Nouveau release parties in my day – both here in the U.S. and while I was living in France. They were a bit debauched if I remember correctly (and remembering isn’t necessarily a standard for this sort of celebration), but a lot of fun.
These days, I celebrate vicariously. Thursday is a school night, after all, and Rise and Shine doesn’t write itself. Gotta stay sharp.
If you are planning to indulge in a glass or two, consider doing it en plein air. It’s shaping up to be a nice fall day, with sunny skies, light to variable winds, and temperatures in the mid-to-high-50s. Salut!
In the headlines…
Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Biden it was “unrealistic” for either of the two largest economic and military superpowers to expect to “remodel the other,” as both countries tried to halt a downward spiral in their relationship.
F”or two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” Xi said. “…Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed, and one country’s success is an opportunity for the other.”
Biden tweeted that he and Xi “made real progress” during today’s summit, and emphasized the importance of understanding one another.
Demonstrators calling for a ceasefire in Gaza placed dozens of body bags outside the White House gates to represent victims killed in the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel officials claimed they found “concrete evidence” of Hamas operating a military facility beneath al Shifa hospital during their overnight raid as IDF soldiers also delivered much-needed supplies to Gaza’s largest medical center.
The Israeli military was solidifying its hold on the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital yesterday, after storming the complex overnight.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, saying the Israeli leader has “lost the public’s trust.”
The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for a series of humanitarian pauses in Gaza.
Antisemitic and Islamophobic hate speech has surged across the internet since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out.
New Hampshire’s presidential primary will be held Jan. 23, state officials announced.
A bloc of far-right House Republicans torpedoed a major spending bill pushed by their own leaders, protesting Speaker Mike Johnson’s move a day earlier to rely on Democrats to push through legislation staving off a government shutdown.
The House Ethics Committee will not call for Long Island Republican Rep. George Santos’s expulsion as a result of its nearly nine-month investigation, the panel’s chair, Rep. Michael Guest, said.
Instead, the panel will release its evidence and details of its work for members to review and make their own conclusion about whether Santos should be removed from Congress, Guest, a Mississippi Republican, said.
Donald Trump argued that the $250 million civil fraud trial against him is “tainted” by “overwhelming” bias by the Manhattan judge deciding his fate as he made a motion for a mistrial.
“The evidence of apparent and actual bias is tangible and overwhelming,” the 30-page filing reads. “Such evidence, coupled with an unprecedented departure from standard judicial procedure, has tainted these proceedings and a mistrial is warranted.”
Trump has given up on his months-long fight to move his New York hush-money criminal case to federal court, agreeing to proceed in a state court that he contends is “very unfair” to him.
The former president and his allies are already laying the groundwork for a possible second Trump presidency, forging plans for an even more extreme agenda than his first term.
For the first time in a decade, enrollment across the State University of New York campus system increased over the course of one year, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced.
Hochul signed a bill aimed at protecting New Yorkers from the theft of what’s often their most valuable asset: their home.
Hochul said the state has cleared up what had been a years-long backlog of minority- and women-owned business enterprises seeking certification in order to get contracts under the state incentive program.
A group of New York service-disabled military veterans suing New York’s Office of Cannabis Management’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries program appear to be close to reaching a settlement with the state.
The fight over one of the most consequential congressional battlegrounds in the nation took center stage yesterday — not in the hotly contested suburbs or a campaign convention hall, but in a staid courtroom in Buffalo.
A Democratic push to toss New York’s House map in time for the 2024 election met an apparently divided audience in oral arguments at the state’s top court, with a key judge sounding open to the idea of dispensing with the map.
Amtrak said that full direct service between Albany and New York City will be restored starting today.
Attorney General Letitia James said she has filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo, alleging that the Westchester-based food and beverage conglomerate is continuing to pollute the environment through its use of plastic bottles and food wrappers.
Since then-mayoral candidate Eric Adams reached out to the FDNY over safety issues at the Turkish consulate in Manhattan in 2021, the building has been operating with a temporary occupancy certificate despite a two-year limit on the use of such permits.
One of Adams’ top aides allegedly promised a 2021 campaign volunteer a job in the administration if he completed renovation work on her home — and asked another for a hefty donation in exchange for Gracie Mansion access.
The NYPD will freeze hiring of new police officers for the foreseeable future as part of “extremely painful” city budget cuts set to be unveiled by Adams today.
New York University has failed to tackle a sharp rise in antisemitism on campus following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel — leaving some Jewish students feeling “under siege,” according to a lawsuit filed this week.
Students rallied after Columbia University suspended two pro-Palestinian groups from holding campus events until the end of the semester, and faculty members walked out in protest.
The New York public defender who resigned after she was caught tearing down posters of the hostages missing in the Israel-Hamas War is receiving assistance from her friends — who say she is “under attack” and have launched a fundraiser to help her with bills.
Citi Bike riders in New York City are getting bad service, and the problem is worse in low-income neighborhoods, the city comptroller said in a report released yesterday.
A Brooklyn ex-con pleaded guilty to sticking up “Bling Bishop” Lamor Whitehead during the flashy clergyman’s videotaped Sunday sermon last year.
Swing districts in the Hudson Valley and Long Island could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025; the outcome of this year’s races offered Democrats and Republicans reasons to be optimistic about next year’s elections.
Windham Mountain, one of the Catskills’ largest ski resorts, will open for the coming season as the “Windham Mountain Club,” offering the option of $175,000 lifetime memberships while still selling traditional lift tickets.
Some of the five Capital Region ShopRite stores that announced they would close by Dec. 9 might shutter by week’s end.
For the fourth time, late-night star and Emmy winner Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the 2024 Oscars ceremony. “I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times,” Kimmel joked, in a statement.
