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WITH KIDS
	Holiday Planning To get ready to give thanks, our gang gets together (a day earlier) Tuesday, Nov. 25, at noon. more with kids

DATING
	Meet the Family Tour the renovated mammal hall at Natural History. more dating

MOVIES
	Review 'Revolutions': Weigh in on Neo's farewell.

BARS & CLUBS
	Brickskeller: 1,000 bottles of beer on the wall -- give or take.

SHOPPING
	Shoemaker Country: Where everything old is new again.

Beaujolais Nouveau 2002 By Fritz Hahn washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Mayor Anthony Williams traditionally pops the first cork at Les Halles and Bistrot du Coin. (Photo by Rebecca D'Angelo for The Washington Post)

Beaujolais Nouveau is not a sophisticated French wine. A light red that ages for a few weeks, it was traditionally consumed by peasants during harvest celebrations. So why is it so popular? Marketing. According to French law, new batches of the wine cannot be served until the third Thursday in November. So on Wednesday night, as the seconds tick down to midnight, many area restaurants and bars celebrate with lavish parties, which are more beloved than the wine itself.

At Bistrot du Coin Wednesday evening, owner Michel Verdon will have three varieties of Beaujolais Nouveau on hand: Pierre Ferraud and Bouchard Aine from France, and Beringer Gamay Nouveau from California. Mayor Anthony Williams is slated to pop the first cork, and the Beaujolais Nouveau is free after midnight -- "as much as you like to drink," Verdon says. The restaurant will also offer a complimentary French buffet, loaded with such traditional dishes as cassoulet and tripe. At 10:30, the restaurant will begin clearing tables off the floor and DJ St. James, who spun great French dance music at Bistrot du Coin on Bastille Day, will provide entertainment until the wee hours. Verdon urges an early arrival, as several hundred revelers packed the restaurant last year; the party, like the wine, is free.

The traditional stroke-of-midnight party will also be celebrated Wednesday at Les Halles, which attracted a crowd of about 500 last year for music, free French food (mmmm, tripe!) and, of course, free Beaujolais Nouveau after midnight -- the Duboeuf variety, among others, will be available. This, too, is a free event and begins at 10 p.m. DJs will be playing dance music at 11.

If those parties sound too rowdy, the upscale French restaurant Saveur is holding its own celebration. Glasses of Beaujolais Nouveau are free all night long, but you need to have dinner to enjoy them -- this is an all-seated event. A jazz combo will perform from 6:30 to 11. Reservations are strongly recommended.

While it doesn't have the immediacy of opening a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau at 12:01 a.m., the 13th annual Beaujolais Nouveau Festival, held Thursday night at La Maison Francaise, will still be the biggest party there since Bastille Day. It's also the city's most "official" party, as it's held at the French Embassy's cultural center. The festival will feature live French music, a traditional country-style buffet, a raffle and, of course, many varieties of Beaujolais Nouveau, which are imported for the occasion. Unfortunately, this event isn't free -- tickets are $65 each and available from Taste DC (http://www.tastedc.com).

Another next-day option is thrown by the Alliance Francaise cultural group, which will celebrate at its Dupont headquarters with wine, cheese and accordionist Ross Quan. This is a French-speaking group, and special guests include Gilles Montagnier, the consul general of France, and Roland Célette, the cultural attache from the Embassy of France. Tickets are $30 for the public, $22 for Alliance Francaise members and $16 for students taking French classes. Space is limited so you must RSVP for this party before 6 p.m. on the 20th. Call 202/234-7911 for tickets and more information.