
Gamay
Learn about Gamay — taste profile, popular regions and more …
Delightfully playful, yet at its best capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines from Beaujolais and parts of the Loire. The variety is also widely planted in Savoie, Valle d'Aosta and Switzerland. Gamay has recently found success on a small but growing scale in Oregon.
Tasting Notes for Gamay
Gamay makes a dry, red wine that is light in body. In its simplest form as Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine released just a couple of months after harvest, Gamay is fresh and full of cranberry and cherry candy flavors. The Villages and Crus Beaujolais wines, given more time on the vine and in the winery, are capable of improving with age and offer blackberry or ripe cherry flavors with enticing aromas of baking spice, violets and wet earth.
Perfect Food Pairings for Gamay
Gamay is delicious on its own; the simpler bottling can even benefit from a light chill before serving. It is the quintessential picnic red and goes well with simple charcuterie, Asian food, roasted duck or Thanksgiving turkey with cranberry sauce.
Sommelier Secrets for Gamay
Within Beaujolais, there are ten different Crus, or highly ranked grape-growing communes. Each one has its own distinct personality—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is serious, structured, and age-worthy, capable of rivaling some red Burgundies.
- Cabernet Sauvignon36
- Bordeaux Red Blends34
- Pinot Noir20
- Other Red Blends15
- Syrah/Shiraz15
- Nebbiolo13
- Sangiovese12
- Rhône Blends11
- Tempranillo8
- Tuscan Blends6
- Malbec3
- Gamay3
- Aglianico2
- Cabernet Franc2
- Grenache2
- Montepulciano2
- Other Red Wine2
- Primitivo2
- Barbera1
- Bonarda1
- Carmenere1
- Cinsault1
- Nero d'Avola1
- Pinotage1
- Agiorgitiko1
- Nerello Mascalese1
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Stephane Aviron Cote de Brouilly Vieilles Vignes 2016Gamay from Beaujolais, Burgundy, France
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Joseph Drouhin Hospices De Belleville Fleurie 2016Gamay from Beaujolais, Burgundy, France
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Domaine Blain Cotes de Brouilly Les Jumeaux 2016Gamay from Beaujolais, Burgundy, France
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