WHAT:
Nouveau Night

WHERE:
Pack Place
Downtown Asheville

WHEN:
Friday, November 19
7 PM until 9 PM

TICKETS ON SALE AT THREE LOCATIONS:

Pack Place
2 South Pack Square 828.257.4500

The Asheville Wine Market
65 Biltmore Ave 800.825.7175

The Wine Guy
555 Merrimon Ave 828.254.6500 & 1200 Hendersonville Rd 828.277.1120

The Asheville Downtown Association is gearing up to join the global celebration of the November release of Nouveau Beaujolais wines, one of the most anticipated events for wine connoisseurs and party lovers the world over. Nouveau Night – the Association’s biggest fundraiser and one of Asheville’s hottest annual events – will mark its 10th anniversary of celebrating this event on Friday, November 19 at Pack Place.

“Pulling party goers out of the late autumn doldrums, Nouveau Night has come to mark the beginning of the Asheville holiday scene,” stated Event Chair Amy Parker. “And we’ll push the festive atmosphere up a notch in celebration of our 10th year. Since Asheville is known as ‘the Paris of the South,’ we go all out for this French fête.”

The lead-up to Nouveau Night begins one day earlier, when vintners in the Beaujolais region of France release the Nouveau Beaujolais on the customary third Thursday of November. (By French law, the wines can be released no sooner.) A mere 24 hours later, the wines arrive in Asheville and are paraded through Downtown with a flourish as a horse-drawn buggy whisks them to the event with cheers of “le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive (the Nouveau Beaujolais has arrived)!”

Suddenly Pack Place is transformed into the epicenter of revelry.

Nouveau Night guests will be greeted at the door with wine glasses and a listing of the wines they will experience. Accompanying the wines will be a gastronomic tour de force courtesy of Asheville’s finest restaurants, with the city’s premier culinary experts on hand to serve delectable samplings that meld perfectly with the infant wines.

Produced in the southern part of Burgundy, a region of central France not unlike Western North Carolina in the lay of its land, Nouveau Beaujolais are brought to market the same year they are harvested and tend to generate rave reviews.

This year’s release is expected to retail for around $10-$11 per bottle, a bit higher than years past due to the changing value of the Euro. Although connoisseurs confirm they lack the depth of more expensive and aged wines, Nouveau Beaujolais’ are savored selections that make an ideal match for holiday meals.

The event’s impeccable blend of food and drink draws wine fans from across the region. Nan Chase of Boone, N.C. attended in 2003 and was enamored with all things Nouveau.

"It's just about the most fun you can have eating dinner,” she said. “[Nouveau Night] is a great party atmosphere and has wonderful food. Dozens of Asheville restaurants send their best dishes, from appetizers to desserts, along with staff to serve samples of everything. Once you've been there you'll want to go back every year.”

So if you’ve been hankering to visit this eclectic mountain town, Nouveau Night offers the perfect opportunity to sample it all.

“Nouveau Night is all about fun,” stated Rob Campbell of the Wine Guy. “It doesn’t attract the swirl-and-sniff crowd. It’s a celebration of wine that you don’t have to think about to enjoy.”

“This event sells out early each year, so get your tickets soon,” added Parker.