Winemaker Notes
Wild, rustic nose of red plums, pepper and dried flowers then svelte palate that is broad and subtly tannic on the finish. These mountainous sites bring a sturdy, brambly quality to what is an often underrated variety. Singular and delicious.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Gamay Noir comes from two vineyards in the Sierra Nevada Mountains: Barsotti, planted in 2005 at 2,800 feet in elevation, and Witters, planted in 2000 at 3,300 feet. Only whole clusters were used during fermentation, and part of the grapes underwent carbonic maceration. Matured in concrete and used oak, the nose is bursting with scents of strawberry, blueberry, botanicals, dried herbs and flowers. The medium-bodied palate is packed with spicy flavors. It offers soft, approachable tannins, energetic acidity and a long, perfumed finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Gamay Noir is a blend from Witters and Barsotti, grown on granitic soils and done with a brief carbonic maceration. Sweet dried cherry, sweet pipe tobacco and cedar are all beautifully lifted. In 2023, the Gamay Noir is a bit light, but it’s a charmer. This is an especially earthy/savory style.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
As home to California’s highest altitude vineyards, El Dorado is also one of its oldest wine growing regions. When gold miners settled here in the late 1800s, many also planted vineyards and made wine to quench its local demand.
By 1870, El Dorado County, as part of the greater Sierra Foothills growing area, was among the largest wine producers in the state, behind only Los Angeles and Sonoma counties. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking and grape growing was totally abandoned. But some of these vines still exist today and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.
El Dorado has a diverse terrain with elevations ranging from 1,200 to 3,500 feet, creating countless mesoclimates for its vineyards. This diversity allows success with a wide range of grapes including whites like Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as for reds, Grenache, Syrah, Tempranillo, Barbera and especially, Zinfandel.
Soils tend to be fine-grained volcanic rock, shale and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nights are cool and the area typically gets ample precipitation in the form or rain or snow in the winter.