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This week we return to our grape miniseries to cover an old Burgundian variety, one of the 20 kids of Gouais Blanc and Pinot, that emerged around the 1300s. We cover its fascinating history; we talk about how it survived defamation by Dukes, centuries later became one of the most popular wines in the world (Beaujolais Nouveau), fell from grace and now is securing its place as a serious, multifaceted grape that makes complex, interesting wines (especially in its ancestral home of Beaujolais, France).

Here are the show notes:

The Gamay grape and its ideal terroir

• Often called Gamay \\xe0 Jus Blanc (Gamay with white juice) to distinguish it from 2 teinturiers (grapes with red juice) that mutated from it.
• The grape is early budding, ripening, and not vigorous if grown on the right soils and in moderate temps.
• Gamay is predominantly grown in the Beaujolais region, just south of Burgundy. Its highest expression is when it grows on granite soils in the northern area of Beaujolais, in 10 superior communes. These are, listed in order of lightest to heavy: Chiroubles, St. Amour, Fleurie, R\\xe9gni\\xe9, Brouilly, C\\xf4te de Brouilly, Juli\\xe9nas, Ch\\xe9nas, Morgon, Moulin \\xe0 Vent

Source: www.discoverbeaujolais.com

Gamay Wines

• Wines of Gamay are high in acidity, can be light or dark in color, can be rough in tannins or silky (all depends on terroir), have red berry, cherry, blackberry fruit notes, and stronger notes of flowers like violets, roses, and iris. I find they often have a note similar to a graham cracker, and they can show smoke or flint minerals aromas too.
• The wines often are compared to Pinot Noir but they are brighter, a bit less complex and often show a delicate bitter note, which can be very satisfying with the right food.

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Winemaking \\u2013 the problem of carbonic maceration

• Traditional or better quality Beaujolais, in particular, from the Cru or Beaujolais Villages are made in the traditional way wines are made (the quick and dirty: crush, macerate, ferment, oak age if desired, clean up, bottle) but Beaujolais Nouveau gets much of its flavor from a very quick vinification method that allows producers to take wine off the vines and have it be ready to sit on shelves within a few months\\u2019 time. This process is called carbonic maceration and it happens in lieu of crushing and macerating in the traditional way. The quick and dirty on it:
  • Whole bunches of grapes are put sealed vats that are blanketed with carbon dioxide (manual harvesting to ensure grapes aren\\u2019t broken during picking is important here)
  • Grapes at the bottom of the vat are crushed by weight of the grapes sitting on to top. The ones at the top aren\\u2019t crushed but the ones at the bottom release carbon dioxide
  • That carbon dioxide encourages fermentation within the juice that sits inside the skins of the grapes. But without oxygen and time, quick fermentation occurs and creates flavors like bubble gum and bananas.
  • And that\\u2019s what Beaujolais Nouveau usually tastes like!

Source: www.discoverbeaujolais.com

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Most Gamay is grown in France, where it is the 7th most planted red variety

Beaujolais:

• 2/3 of plantings of Gamay are in and around Beaujolais, where it makes up 98% of production
• 12 appellations have Gamay as the primary grape\\u2013 the 10 crus plus -- Beaujolais AOC Beaujolais Villages AOC
• Again, the Cru are: Chiroubles, St. Amour, Fleurie, R\\xe9gni\\xe9, Brouilly, C\\xf4te de Brouilly, Juli\\xe9nas, Ch\\xe9nas, Morgon, Moulin \\xe0 Vent

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Other parts of France:

• Burgundy: Grown mainly in the M\\xe2connais, just north of Beaujolais. The grape is used for Cr\\xe9mant de Bourgogne and is sometimes blended with Pinot Noir in a wine called Bourgogne Passetoutgrain
• Loire: Gamay can be light, peppery, and aromatic when it ripens well. Most of it is grown around the city of Tours in the Cheverny, Coteaux de Vend\\xf4mois and other nearby AOCs. The wines are vintage dependent and can be thin in bad years.
• Savoie and the Rh\\xf4ne each have some minor plantings

Other areas with Gamay include:

• Switzerland, where Gamay is mixed with Pinot Noir to create D\\xf4le in Valais (Bourgogne Passetoutgrains in Burgundy)
• Valle d\\u2019Aosta of northern Italy (not too far from Switzerland!)
• Eastern Europe
• New Zealand: I mention Te Mata as one I\\u2019ve had and loved
• Australia: Some smaller, cooler areas of Victoria
• Canada: Niagara Peninsula, Niagara on the Lake
• The US: Texas, Michigan, New York State (Finger Lakes and Hudson Valley) and\\u2026
  • California: I tell the story of the original Charles F. Shaw and his love of Gamay (and how his winery failed and he sold his name to Freddie Franzia to become what is now\\u2026 Two Buck Chuck). I also add that Valdigui\\xe9, a French grape so bad it\\u2019s not grown in France anymore, was confused with Gamay
  • Oregon: At the same latitude of Beaujolais, there is lots of potential with the right soils. The grapes here are, in fact, Gamay \\xe0 Jus Blanc, and they make lovely examples of the grape.

For more information on Beaujolais, the Beaujolais appellation web site is wonderful (this is not sponsored, I just love the site!)

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Don\'t forget to sign up for my live online wine classes: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes\\xa0

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