| The light young French wine has become a world brand since its introduction in 1970. Made with carbonic maceration from Gamay grapes, it is a light fruity wine which does not have too much of a personality, yet is easily drinkable, especially by the young. It is always released at midnight on the third Thursday of November.
The uncorking ceremony was held at the stroke of midnight at the self-proclaimed "historic capital" of Beaujolais wine and was attended by aficionados from Japan, South Korea, Britain and China.
"Ladies and gentleman, senoras y senores, mesdames et messieurs, we are inaugurating this evening the wine which will be served up to drink around the world," the master of ceremonies announced with a flourish.
"Ten, nine, eight ... three, two, one Beaujeu! The Beaujolais Nouveau is here," he announced, theatrically striking the mallet on wine casks in a colourful ceremony broadcast live by Japan's NHK television station.
Despite stray criticism that the just harvested red wine is overrated, Beaujolais Nouveau has enjoyed a spectacular success in countries such as Japan which has become its largest importer. 11 million bottles were imported last year, down from a peak of 12.5 million bottles in 2004.
Global sales peaked at 62 million bottles in 1998, making Beaujolais Nouveau one of France's bestselling wines ever. But they are expected to be hit this year by slackening demand in Japan, a strong euro and high petrol prices.
This year exports are expected to fall by a further 20 percent, to 8.4 million bottles, according to Asahi Breweries Ltd, one of the Japanese wine importers who has recently started exporting Asahi beer to India through Sula.
This year's wine is described as light with raspberry notes by Damien Gateau, a sommelier from Lyon, the capital of the Beaujolais region.
For the first time ever, a rose version will be available in limited quantities. The idea, said Inter-Beaujolais, the region's official wine body, is the result of increased demand in both Japan and France for pink wine.
Made also from Gamay, about 400,000 bottles of Beaujolais rose went on sale Thursday - a fraction however of the red Beaujolais Nouveau sales which last year stood at 50 million bottles.
National French food and drinks exports body Sopexa says that predictions of a 20 per cent fall in sales may be overly pessimistic.
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