Gamay, the grape of Beaujolais, formally known as Gamay Noir au Jus Blanc. Not the most highly regarded of grapes, especially when so much of it is vinified in a simple, one-dimentional, tutti-frutti style. And then there's that bad reputation that stuck for more than 600 years after Philip the Bold of Burgundy declared Gamay that "most disloyal variety," ordering all Gamay vines on the Cote d'Or pulled up and destroyed: The grape wasn't considered good enough for Burgundy. This edict came down on July 31, 1395, so on the last day of this Wine Focus month we can celebrate its 624th anniversary!
But it remains in Beaujolais, and before we're too quick to dismiss it, let's remember that it is the local wine for Lyon, arguably France's second food city after Paris; and that in its better renditions, including the named villages like Brouilly, Moulin-a-Vent, Fleurie and more, it can be both interesting and complex, capable of balancing fruit, acidity and minerality.
I've already pulled a cork this month, and I look forward to opening more. Let's hear your reports!
This clear reddish-purple wine from Gamay Noir grapes starts with a burst of ripe strawberry fruit aromas, still exuberant and youthful at three years old. The flavor is fresh and bright, with plenty of mouth-filling red-berry fruit. It seems simple at first, but cleansing acidity and soft tannins provide structure with 13.5% alcohol, and an intriguing red-clay minerality builds in the long finish. It's a very interesting wine, good with food, and a good value. U.S. importer: Kermit Lynch, Wine Merchant, Berkeley, Calif. (June 27 , 2019)
) but it was enjoyable, indeed more so at present than my recent Vissoux Fleurie. The TN on my first bottle still applies.