Gamay is a most overlooked and underappreciated grape. Traditionally from Beaujolais, it is a great accompaniment to a wide range of food and doesn’t require the long ageing of Bordeaux or Burgundy. It also makes a great Thanksgiving wine. Here are a few we have in stock.
2019 Les Iris Beaujolais $13
A little value Gamay. Bright and lively red, this youthful, juicy Beaujolais has plenty of lifted red fruit. Crushed red berries on the palate with floral notes and a dusting of allspice.
2018 Stéphane-Aviron Beaujolais Villages $13
this tasty organic red is made from 50+ year old vines. It has an easy drinking and fruit forwards style on this Beaujolais Villages. On the nose, there are abundant notes of macerated strawberries with hints of herbs. The acidity is bright with soft tannins with abundant red fruit on the palate.
Organic
2019 Dupre Beaujolais-Villages $15
Single-vineyard Gamay from vines planted in 1940. The wine has a good concentration full of red fruit and drying tannins.
2018 2019 Domaine les Gryphées Beaujolais Les Balmes $17
“Balmes” is a slope. This steeply-graded vineyard was planted nearly 100 years ago. Aromas of red and purple flowers, cherries and red plums, light baking spice, pepper. Medium-bodied; smooth tannins.
2019 Piron Coq Leon $17
95% Gamay, 5% Gamaret
A VDP but the grapes all come from Beaujolais vineyards. Gamaret is a cross of Gamay with Reichensteiner. There are plots of these vines growing in little known villages in the region and occasionally, as in this case, it is blended with Gamay to make a plump, darker, some would say more fun wine to be enjoyed without fuss with the hearty fare served locally.
2019 Château La de Bottieére Juliénas $20
100% Gamay
Dark raspberries and wild strawberries, peppered with crushed violets, peonies, star anise, and an undercurrent of dark, stony earth. It is plenty smooth, pretty, and soft, but there is also a nice crunch of acid and tannin which gives the wine its lift and palate persistence.
2018 Domaine de Bel-Air Morgan les Charmes $20
Some deeper aromas here with darker fruit and mineral notes, leading to a palate that has impressive density and rich dark berries. Long, stony finish. Really rich.
Organic
2018 Maison Guillot-Broux, Mâcan Rouge $25
A blend of several old Mâconnais vineyards. The wine is vinified in concrete vats, using indigenous yeasts. Part of the harvest is de-stemmed to bring a bit more finesse and elegance to the cuvee. The limestone terroirs give it its minerality and freshness; the granite terroirs, hints of camphor and dark fruits with has spicy and peppery overtones.