In France, Beaujolais nouveau will arrive on the tables of restaurants and in stores this Thursday, accompanied by its famously chic, annually changing marketing.
The 2014 graphics for the vin de primeur have been done by the celebrated Lille artist-illustrator Jim Skwak, who in the past has worked with Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Adidas.
Franprix, Nicolas and BiBoViNo will be key distributors of the beverage made from the varietal Gamey noir à Jus Blanc, which flourishes most notably in the Loire Valley.
The third Thursday of each November is Beaujolais Nouveau Day, for which intense promotion is employed globally.
Classically, the slogan has been "Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!", but for Anglophone countries it was replaced in 2005 with "It's Beaujolais Nouveau Time!"
The nature of its production means that it contains very few tannins, and is dominated by fruity ester flavours such as banana, grape, strawberry, fig, and pear drop.