Definition: bourru

What is bourru wine? Bourru wine is the first wine drawn by winegrowers, a new wine that has been aged very little and fermented only slightly; it must, of course, be drunk very young. At this stage, it only lasts for a week or so and cannot be transported.

"Poorly refined, it retains the rough edges of childhood, something unfinished, temporary, as if the new wine were protecting itself, for a moment longer, from the aggressions of the world." (Jean-Claude Carrière - Le Vin Bourru, published by Plon).

It has a milky appearance, clouded by lees. It is low in alcohol (three to four degrees), slightly sparkling and sweet.

Vin bourru has other names: vin doux nouveau, paradis (in Beaujolais), Neuer Süsser (in Alsace), bernache (in the Loire Valley, where there is a Confrérie des buveux de bernache, or Brotherhood of Bernache Drinkers).

Marketing - Primeurs:

Wines with an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) can only be marketed from 15 December following the harvest.

Exception:

Certain wines with an appellation d'origine contrôlée (Gaillac, Touraine, Muscadet, Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône) are traditionally offered as "primeurs" or "new" wines and may be marketed on the third Thursday of November.

Beaujolais "primeur" accounts for 84% of primeur volumes, Côtes du Rhône 9%.

VDP wines, or vins de pays, can be sold from the third Thursday in October.