Gamay, the Cornell University of Forgotten Grapes

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From East and West the Crashing Echoes Answ’ring Call: “Gamay Victorious! The Champions of All!”

Before we begin, some facts about Cornell University, so I don’t get flooded with angry e-mails from Big Red alums. Established on the Ithaca, New York farm of Senator Ezra Cornell in 1865 and one of only two private land-grant colleges in the United States, Cornell University boasts a population of just under 20,000 students, nearly 2,600 faculty members, 14 colleges and schools (included 4 state-supported contract schools) and one of the highest suicide rates among all universities (thanks to a large gorge running through the middle of campus).

What It Looks Like, What It Smells Like, and What It Tastes Like

Gamay looks like:

Gamay smells like:

Gamay tastes like:

Because Gamays tend to be big, bright, fruity wines, lots of different scents will be whipped your way when you stick your nose in a glass. Big jammy cherry raspberry scents should definitely great you with a warm and hearty handshake in most younger Gamays, while aged Gamays will have less subtle fruit scents to them and sometimes more prune and raisin scents. You might also get some floral aromas on the nose, most notably violets, and a strange, rustic, intoxicating combination of damp wood, smoke, and earth that one member of our Tasting Squadron referred to as “an old log cabin in the rain with a fire going.” That certainly paints a pretty picture, doesn’t it? Finally, because of the unique carbonic maceration process that is used to press Gamay grapes and start their fermentation (see below), you may get some crazy smells in the wine set off by all the carbon dioxide generated. We’re talking bananas, bubble gum, cotton candy...jut weird out of the ordinary aromas. Just another reason why Gamay wines are delicious and fun to drink (and sniff!).

Young Gamays are about as straightforward a wine as you’re ever going to taste: lots of bright cherry flavors, a healthy dose of acidity, no tannin whatsoever, and just about nothing on the finish. They are what they are, and perhaps that is why people enjoy them (and they make great summer wines with a little bit of a chill on them).

Older Beaujolais cru wines, though, have longer, deeper, more complex tastes, with less fruit, less acid, and more of a tannic bite to them. Those cherry and raspberry and strawberry flavors can shade into more sour or black version of the fruit, even dipping into a plummy or raisiny flavor from certain appellations. There may be some smoke in your glass, and there should be some peppery spice in there as well. Because they come from the best soil and best Gamay grapes in Beaujolais, they produce much richer, complex wines that aren’t as easy drinking as regular young Beaujolais, but can be much more satisfying nonetheless.

• We’ve already touched on the fact that more people seem to know the name Beaujolais (BOW-jho-lay) than the fact that Beaujolais wines are made from the Gamay (gam-AY) grape (we won’t touch those people who think that Beaujolais is the name of the grape because that’s what it says on the bottle and if it says it on the bottle, it must be the name of the grape. We’re already mad enough as it is.) But another point of frustration – at least among the Friends of the Forgotten Grapes – is the fact that so many people assume that the only wines made in Beaujolais are the Beaujolais Nouveau, and while this may seem like splitting hairs (and that we should just be happy enough that people are drinking Gamay wines), we just can’t ignore something that’s plain dead wrong.

Beaujolais Nouveau is, for the handful of you not familiar, a very young version of the basic Gamay wines that are harvested, macerated, and fermented in the region, only these wines are then released on the third Thursday in November, making it the first wine in all of France of that particular vintage to be released to the general public. The result of this hasty bottling is a light, fruity, acidic wine meant to celebrate the end of the harvest season and upcoming winter and intended to be drunk as a lark, not necessarily paired with foods and definitely not held for any length of time.

What you might not know is that the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon is actually a relatively recent one, created almost exclusively as a marketing ploy by some of the larger Beaujolais producers, including Georges DuBoeuf and Louis Jadot. While the roots of Beaujolais’ early release traces back to the 19th century, when Beaujolais wines were shipped down the Saone river to bistros in Lyon (where their arrival was announced on chalkboards around the city), the early Nouveau launch did not become a worldwide phenomenon until the 1960s, when DuBoeuf and several of the other Beaujolais winemakers decided to create a “race” of sorts to see who could get their Beaujolais into consumers’ hands the fastest. This “race” created a lot of publicity for the wine and bred more races between wine merchants around the world, though particularly in Britain and Germany, to see who could taste and receive a case of the first Nouveau of the season. This bred more popularity for the wines as more and more people got swept up in this artificial competition.

It wasn’t until 1985 that Georges DuBoeuf and his cronies convinced the French government to officially declare the third Thursday in November “Beaujolais Nouveau Day.” And while Nouveau popularity continued to climb through the 1990s, it met headlong with a fierce backlash in the early 21st century. In fact, over 1.1 million cases were either destroyed or distilled in 2001 due to poor sales of a lackluster vintage, and certain Beaujolais producers, including Duboeuf, have been charged with either chaptalizing their wines (adding additional sugars into weak vintages before fermentation to give them more body and heft) or of blending better vintage wine into weaker vintages and selling it off under the weaker vintage’s label. All of this, and Nouveau only accounts for roughly a third of all Beaujolais wine produced.

• For the record, there are three main appellations in Beaujolais. The Beaujolais AOC contains most of the vineyards in the flatter southern portion of the region and its wines are considered to be of the least quality of the three, considered to be bistro wines best enjoyed within the first year after harvest. The Beaujolais-Villages AOC forms a ring around the northern and central areas of Beaujolais, an area that is hillier than the Beaujolais AOC and contains soils that does not retain as much water. Villages wines are considered to be a step up from Beaujolais wines and can be drunk 2-3 years after harvest. While both Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages producers can produce Nouveau wines, very little of it comes from the Villages side of the tracks. Finally, contained within the Beaujolais-Villages ring are 10 sub appellations known as the Beaujolais Cru. These appellations form the highest parts of the Beaujolais region and are considered to create the finest wines the region has to offer, wines that can be aed for sometimes 10-12 years after harvest. The names of the ten Beaujolais cru are: Cheroubles, Chenas, Julienas, Fleurie, Regnie, Brouilly, Cote de Brouilly, Saint-Amour, Moulin-a-Vent, and Morgon. We will get up close and personal with each of these cru next week, so consider this more of a teaser until then.

• Also note that there are fine white wines produced in Beaujolais made from Chardonnay (though they only account for 1% of all wines in the region), and that rosé wines made from Gamay can also be legally produced in Beaujolais as well, but are rarely done so.

• Interestingly, Beaujolais wines are produced using a very different method of pressing and fermenting than most winemakers French or otherwise utilize. This process is called carbonic maceration and relies almost solely on gravity and the chemical processes within the grape to crush the grapes and ferment the juice inside. Here’s how it works: the Gamay grapes are dumped into large sealed containers with capacities between 1000-8000 gallons. Any excess oxygen is pumped out of the box, and the grapes on the bottom of the container are naturally crushed under the weight from the grapes on top (think of it like one big 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati). The must (or juice) from those crushed grapes begins to ferment (thanks to the natural yeasts existing on the grapes’ skins) and produces carbon dioxide, which rises up and permeates into the skin of the still-intact grapes on top. The carbon dioxide triggers a fermentation in this grapes within the skins, which causes the skins to burst under the additional carbon dioxide, whcih leads to more must hitting the bottom, which leads to more fermentation. The loop continues until all the juice from the grapes has been released and is in the process of fermenting. For Nouveau vines, this process takes only four days, but for the AOC wines, fermentation is allowed to carry on longer to allow for more tannins to build up and for a fuller body to develop in the wine. One note: when the juice has been fermented this way, it creates a heavy build-up of malic acid in the wine, so a
secondary malolactic fermentation is usually induced once the first fermentation
has ceased to soften the wine and make it less tart-tasting.

Fun Facts to Impress/Bore People At Parties

From Brein’s Brain to Your Plate

“Ahh, good old Gamay and Beaujolais, the ultimate bistro wine. It’s really not a wine intended to be drunk with food – well, except for the cru versions of the wine – and is really meant to be more of an aperitif or something you drink when you just want a glass of wine and nothing else. A lot of people say that Beaujolais is the perfect wine to drink in early Fall, when summer is just starting to turn, there’s a little chill in the air, and it’s time to put away your crisp whites and rosés. But I think the summer is a great time for Gamay and Beaujolais, especially in the late afternoon, with a little chill on the wine. That’s just perfect.”

“So, because some Gamay wines are supposed to be simple and light and fruity, if you are going to pair one with a food, you need something that fits that same bill, right? So what about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Don’t laugh. Hear me out on this one. PB&J works great because the richness of the peanut butter will counteract the higher acid in the wine, right, and then the jelly – and you really should only use a grape or strawberry or raspberry jelly, something that matches the fruit. No mint jelly or marmalade or jalpeno jelly or anything exotic here – will offer a slightly sweeter parallel that will be really harmonious. Pair that up with some salty Lay’s potato chips, and you are off to the races. Or, you know, second grade again.”

“Obviously Gamay isn’t the most powerful or tannic wine around, so it’s not going to be a good pairing with heavier meats like beef and game because it doesn’t have the tannic heft to kick those food times in the stomach. But it’s also too heavy a wine to go with fish or seafood too. So fowl works alright with Gamays, but you’ve got to be careful. Chicken is really too light to work well with Gamay. You could pair duck up with it, but you’d need a bigger Gamay, one of those heavier Beaujolais cru that could stand up to it. But you’re still going to need a little more than that. What I’d do is roast a duck or just the breast, then take a bunch of black and red cherries, put them into a smoker for a while, and then mash them into a rich, tart sauce and drench that bird for a smoky, sour, fruity entree that should be able to stand up to your bigger Beaujolais.”

“The other fowl that comes to mind when I’m thinking Gamay is either squab or pheasant. Both are lighter birds but still have some of that gaminess in them to stand up to a really fruity and acidic wine. If you wrap some bacon around either of those birds to add some fat and saltiness and either grill them or roast them,
that’s going to be a really nice and classically French
peasant meal right there.”

Chef Brein Clements is the chef/owner of Restaurant Omakase in Riverside, CA, which is quickly becoming SoCal’s answer to El Bulli. Minus the molecular gastronomy. He began his cooking career at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley and moved on to become Chef de Cuisine at the famed Balboa Bay Club before opening his own restaurant. Plus he’s only 27. My man knows his wine and he knows his food. Each week he’ll provide ingredient and dish recommendations that match up well with the week’s forgotten grape. You should heed what he says. No, seriously, heed it.

Go On. Try It. You’ll Like It.

2007 Louis Jadot Beaujolais

Outside of maybe Duboeuf’s Nouveaus, this is probably the most readily-available Gamay wine you’ll find in this country and will tell you everything you need to know about a Beaujolais wine with just a sniff and a sip. Fresh warm bread slathered in raspberry jam dominates the nose of this thick purple wine loaded with big cherry flavors and a clean finish. This is your ideal summer red, perfect on hot days and even hotter nights with a little bit of a chill to it (the wine, not the night). Our Friends at Napacabs.com have this at an exceptionally competitive price, so if you are looking to take your first leap into the world of Gamay and Beaujolais wine, there’s no better place to dive in than here.

2002 Pierre Dupond “Domaine de la Serve des Vignes” Morgon

This wine is an absolutely fantastic example of how a good Beaujolais Cru wine can not only hold its age, but can also thrive and mature wonderfully with a few years under its belt. It’s like the Paul Pierce or Carmelo Anthony of wine – no longer a troublemaker or a malcontent, just outperforming and existing at an All-star level (a foreshadow to next week...oooooh!). A rusty bloodstone color with a faint cherry nose, overshadowed by fresh stone-ground mustard and that “old log cabin in the rain with a fire going” scent. There was a captivating nuttiness to the flavor of this wine as well as a smokiness – some of us wondered if there’d been a fire or a compost heap near these particular vines. This was a very long, very deep, very rich and super delicious wine that offers a marked contrast to the lighter, breezier fare of regular Beaujolais. You are definitely going to want to pair this one with some food; you don’t want to drink this one alone (by yourself or without a meal). We got our bottle at Bevmo.com and suggest you do too before they run out and move onto another wine and no longer have this one available (believe us, it happens).

2006 Paul Mathew Knight’s Valley Gamay Noir

We confess: we’d bought the 2006 a year ago at the Wine Emporium and opened it up just for this tasting, and now they only have the 2007 in stock. But if that vintage is as good as the 2006 vintage, you’re in very good hands. Some damp wood, vanilla, coffee, and even a little prune on the nose before it opens up into some very nice florals and raspberry. This was a fuller wine than we expected with a nice tannic pull and some interesting flavors of rhubarb and watermelon Jolly Ranchers (and yes, it was very specifically watermelon – we double-checked ourselves) before it settled into a classic Beaujolais flavor with a nice clean finish. There is not a lot of Gamay being grown in California, so if you can find a good one, you need to jump on it. Our

Friend Tom at The Wine Emporium has this for you at a

very nice price, so it’s well worth jumping on it now

and picking up a few bottles before he runs out

again. Trust us; you don’t want to miss out!

Think you’ve got a better pop culture icon to describe Gamay than what we came up with? Let us know in our Comments section. If it’s good enough, we may use it in a future update.

Taste, smell, or see something different? Let us know in our Comments section.

Think you can pair food and wines better than Brein can? Share your best food pairings with Gamay in our Comments section and see what the master has to say.

Our Friend of the Forgotten Grapes Tasting Squadron tastes all of the wines you see here ahead of time to ensure that you aren’t getting anything rotten or clunky. We also try to ensure that most of the wines highlighted here are affordably priced ($20 or less) so you can try them out for yourself without having to take out a second mortgage or sacrificing your kid (or future kid’s) college fund to do so. Lastly, the Friends of the Forgotten Grapes has relationships with all the fine wine purveyors we link to in this section. We know them, we trust them. You can order these wines from them online right now and be trying them out in the next couple of days. Do yourself a favor and order from them by using the links below. It’s totally worth it. And tell them that ForgottenGrapes.com sent you, too.

There are two primary colors you are going to find with most Gamay wines. For younger Gamays, including Beaujolais Nouveaus, Beaujolais-Villages, and most new-world Gamay Noirs (more on this below), the wine will be a dark reddish-purple color, closely resembling grape jely both in the jar and on a slice of toast (mmm, grape jelly on toast...). Gamay wines that have been aged for a bit, such as most Beaujolais cru wines (again, you can find out more about this below, but not yet! Finish reading this section first) will have more of a reddish-brown tint to them, almost like that pretty, pretty bloodstone to the right. Which just happens to be the traditional birthstone for folks born in March. So if you know someone born in March, get them a bloodstone, or better yet, get them a bottle of Beaujolais cru!

Know of a bottle of Gamay that we should try? Tell us about it in our Comments section.