Brasserie 28 Gets Beaujolais Bragging Rights

For wine enthusiasts, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Tomorrow marks Beaujolais Nouveau Day – the third Thursday of November when each year’s harvest of Beaujolais, made from Gamay grapes that ferment for only a few weeks a year, is officially opened.

While a trip to the Beaujolais region of France, may be out of the question at this point, Andover residents are in luck this year.

Brasserie 28 will be celebrating its one-year birthday as well as the start of Beaujolais season (spanning three weeks from tomorrow), through a series of events this month. Starting tomorrow, the brasserie will have one of the coveted 16 liter barrels of wine and dinner specials (see attached menu) featuring the festive, fruity wine. The celebration will culminate Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 6 p.m. in a "Neighborhood Social" with a party and fashion show by

“This is our first time doing this event and we wanted to do something fun and thank those that have been with us over the year,” Owner Matt Morello said.

Brasserie 28 is the only restaurant north of Boston to be given one of the barrels of Beaujolais – a tightly guarded rite - Morello said.

 “For three weeks, we will be incorporating the Beaujolais into every dish somehow,” he said, noting he has already whipped up a chocolate ganache with Beaujolais and created a Kobe beef brisket marinated in the wine.

“It’s a fun wine. It’s not expensive and sold in stores for around $7 It is very approachable for those that may not be into wine.”

Each year, the annual harvest of Beaujolais Nouveau is opened on the third Thursday of November at 12:01 a.m.

The fabled wine is known for its pink/purple color and its light and fruity taste. The wine is meant to be opened early (never saved), when its youthful flavors are apparent.

The wine suffered a brief hiatus around in the 1990's when problems with the wine made the harvests less than desirable. Over the past several years, Beaujolais has experienced a come back, especially in the United States.

“We are using this opportunity to do something fun for this drinkable wine,” Morello said. “It will also give people a chance to come into the restaurant that may have originally thought it was too wine oriented or finer dining and show that we can be a fun time.”

During the Neighborhood Social event next week, Salon Invi will be participating with a fashion show showcasing post WWII Parisian fashion.

“They are doing the old Parisian fashion – the hair and dress of socialness,” Morello said. “There will be period jewelry and fashion and we’ll be making our staff up in the French style. It will reflect a time in Paris when the war was over and people dressed up and went out.”

The Nov. 29th party will also feature giveaways and raffles. "Like" Brasserie 28 and Salon Invi on Facebook to win a dinner at Brasserie 28 or a day of beauty at Salon Invi.