This year’s first shipment of Beaujolais Nouveau arrived from France at Narita airport east of Tokyo on Tuesday ahead of nationwide sales from Nov 19. Japan is expected to import about 4.8 million 750-mililiter bottles of the wine, down roughly 30 percent from last year amid the economic downturn, said Suntory Holdings Ltd., one of the importers and distributors of the wine.
   
This year’s Beaujolais Nouveau is said to be some of the best quality in 50 years thanks to good weather conditions for growth of grapes in the Beaujolais region in France, according to Suntory. The new wine will likely be sold at around 2,500 yen a bottle, slightly lower than last year, the company added.