The Gamay Noir Grape

(Synonyms: Blauer Gamet, Bourguignon Noir, Gamay, Gamay Noir, Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc, Petit Bourguignon, Petit Gamai)

Background

Gamay Noir is a red-wine grape originating in the Beaujolais region of France; wines from there are designated “Beaujolais”. (Technically, the Beaujolais wine zone is part of the Burgundy wine zone, but the grapes and their typical handling are so different that Beaujolais has its own regulating wine laws.) Beaujolais wines are not required to be 100% Gamay—technically, a Beaujolais red could contain up to 15% of white-wine grapes!—but almost all Beaujolais bottlings are indeed monovarietal (the occasional use by some of a splash of Pinot Noir is rapidly disappearing).

There has been, especially in the U.S., some confusion about “Beaujolais”, owing to the early use of the name for some grape types that turned out to be rather different animals. As science began to settle out the differences by genetic analysis, the true Gamay was distinguished from a couple of other types, which were then called “Napa Gamay” and “Gamay Beaujolais”; the so-called “Napa Gamay” was renamed in 2007 to Valdeguié, while “Gamay Beaujolais” was determined to just be an inferior clone of Pinot Noir. (“Gamay Beaujolais” does not make notable wines, but Valdeguié is gaining a following.) The true Gamay grape is now more formally known as “Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc”, which is a nod to its white (“blanc”) interior and juice (“jus”); but most people just call it “Gamay” and asume everyone knows they are referring to the true Gamay Noir grape (Jancis Robinson, for example, refers to the grape as just “Gamay Noir” in her wine-grapes book).

As noted, the chief and most noted use of Gamay is in Beaujolais, of which it is the sole constituent. It is also somewhat used in other parts of France in blends, making wines that are similar to Beaujolais but with some other flavors from the other wines used. Small amounts of Gamay are also grown throughout the winemaking world. But you are far and away most likely to encounter it—especially as a monovarietal—in Beaujolias.

(Note that non-nouveau Beaujolais is also commonly exposed to some carbonic maceration; it is just that the nouveau types require it to be at all drinkable.)

The essence of well-made Beaujolais is lightness and delicacy: it is not accidental that a clone of Pinot Noir was mistaken for Gamay. The wines are fruit-forward (though ideally not “fruit bombs”) and are intended for light, casual consumption. When so made and so drunk, they are very pleasant indeed. There are also somewhat bigger and heavier versions of Beaujolais; though they have their fans, most feel that vinifying Gamay in that way is trying to make of it something that it inherently is not.

The usual descriptions of Beaujolais are much alike, and Wikipedia’s will do: vibrant youthful fruit expressions reminiscent of bright crushed strawberries and raspberries, as well as deep floral notes of lilac and violets. The wine is meant to be, and should be, drunk quite young. It is pointless, and likely counter-productive, to cellar it.

Beaujolais comes in three basic quality classes: basic, labelled just Beaujolais; intermediate, labelled Beaujolais-Villages; and top, which is Cru—but Cru Beaujolais do not usually show the word “Beaujolais” on the label. (They seek to dissociate themselves from Nouveau, which is regarded, rightly, as near-plonk.) Considering that the price differentials between even basic Beaujolais and many pretty good Cru Beaujolais are quite small, it becomes important to know what the Crus are so you can spot Cru Beaujolais. There are ten:

On a label, the Cru designation may be followed by some subsidiary identification, but if you see one of the names above on a bottle of French wine, it is a Beaujolais Cru bottling from the named Cru. The Crus are by no means identical. If you like your Beaujolais light, you probably want a Chiroubles or a Fleurie; if you prefer it sturdy, you would want Moulin-à-Vent or Morgon. (You can see one source’s ideas of what the various crus are like here.)

Factoid: Gamay has always been in competition with the much superior Pinot Noir for growing space. In the middle ages, it was twice (1395 and 1455) actually outlawed by ducal decree.

Some Descriptions of Gamay Wines

Wikipedia
“Gamay-based wines are typically light bodied and fruity. Wines meant to be drunk after some modest aging tend to have more body and are produced by whole-berry maceration. The latter are produced mostly in the designated ‘Cru Beaujolais’ areas where the wines typically have the flavor of sour cherries, black pepper, and dried berry, as well as fresh-cut stone and chalk.”
Wine Searcher
“While the variety offers fresh red fruit and candied aromas, it typically delivers little in the way of flavor concentration and body weight. Characteristic fruit aromas of Gamay wines are red cherries and strawberries, often with boiled candy and banana notes. Some darker wines from the granite soils of the Beaujolais Crus can show more dark-raspberry and black-pepper qualities. Gamay usually has a good acid structure with very low tannins, making it better suited for early consumption.”
Jancis Robinson
“The wines produced are naturally relatively high in acidity and can be light in both colour and tannin, which makes simple Gamays good drinks in their youth, and flattered by being served relatively cool.…Some Beaujolais on the other hand, notably Morgon and Moulin à Vent, are supposed to taste more and more like Pinot as they age, even though they are made exclusively from Gamay grapes. The proportion of Beaujolais that is made ‘seriously’ nowadays continues to rise once again.…But more and more growers, particularly those in the Beaujolais crus, are once again, like their grandfathers, making their wines much more in the way of traditional red burgundy, fermenting the grape in open wooden vats and ageing them in small barrels, so that the overall effect is a much deeper-coloured, more tannic, long-lived wine that may not be ready to drink until four or more years after the harvest. These wines still have Gamay’s trademark refreshing acidity but they also have many attributes that make them more like red burgundy. The result in a way is confusion. The Gamay grape no longer has a single image but on the international marketplace there are now examples all along the spectrum from thin and vapid to pretty and refreshing to deep-flavoured and rewarding.”
Wine Access
“Beaujolais Villages: Carbonic maceration and fresh fruit flavors are also characteristic of this more refined drink from the hilly central part of the Beaujolais district. The extra finesse comes from better vineyards, lower yields, and also from its not being pressed early and hurried through fermentation. If the wine is no more than a year or two old, you can usually count on a reliable, tasty drink at a bargain price.
Cru Beaujolais: Vastly under appreciated, these wines come from the best vineyards in the north-central part of the region. They can show remarkable concentration and longevity while still boasting a bundle of Gamay flavor.…[they] are, for the fruity-wine lover, a great bargain. These cru Beaujolais can take on Pinot-like characteristics, and pair well with foods like roast chicken or grilled salmon. Unfortunately, they usually don’t carry the name Beaujolais on the label. To find them, you will have to remember their individual names: Brouilly, Côtes de Brouilly, Chenas, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Juliénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Morgon, Regnié, and St. Amour.”
Berry Bros. & Rudd
“French variety planted predominately in Beaujolais where it is the grape behind everything from light and often acidic Beaujolais Nouveau through to the more serious and well-structured wines from the 10 cru villages.…The majority of Gamay wines in Beaujolais are labelled as Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages and are deliciously juicy, easy drinking, gulpable wines. Of more interest are the Cru wines from the 10 villages in the north of the region where the soil is predominantly granitic schist and where the vines are planted on gently undulating slopes. These can be well-structured, intensely perfumed wines, redolent of ripe black fruits and, while delicious young, will reward medium-term cellaring. Gamay is also grown in the Touraine region of the Loire where it produces soft, well-balanced, gluggable wines for drinking young.”
Food & Wine
“Typically these wines are not aged in oak barrels and are released early. (Beaujolais Nouveau, which appears on shelves little more than a month after the grapes are harvested, is the extreme example.) Beaujolais from the region’s ten crus, however, can be wonderfully structured and some can even age. Little Gamay is grown outside of Beaujolais.”
BBC Good Food
“When shopping, look for ‘Beaujolais-Villages’ on the label for reliable quality, and in particular for a wine from one of the ten Beaujolais Crus (including such names as Fleurie). The key to Beaujolais is the way the Gamay grape is fermented, in a closed container without oxygen to emphasise the juicy cherry fruit. It often also gives a distinct aroma of raspberry bubble-gum.”
Stacy Slinkard, about.com
“The Gamay grape is inherently acidic and carbonic maceration (whole grape fermentation takes place in a high CO2 environment) is used to downplay the acid and lift the fruit. Typically the Gamay grape is used to craft low-tannin, fruity red wines.”
VinePair
“The wine produced from the Gamay grape tends to exhibit characteristics that are very similar to that of Pinot Noir. Gamay is a light-bodied, fruity red with tart flavors of cherries and raspberries and even banana. The banana flavor is the result of something called carbonic maceration…. Gamay is a great red wine to accompany meat and cheese plates as well as salad dishes and even roast chicken and fish.”

Some Gamays to Try

The list does not attempt to represent every one of the ten Cru villages; it is just a selection of widely praised Gamay-based wines. For each wine, we have placed its village name in italics, to make identification easier.

For a Splurge

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

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