Tag: gamay

Rockway Gamay Noir, 2019

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Maker: Rockway Vineyards, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada.

Grape: Gamay.

Place of origin: Niagara Peninsula VQA, Ontario, Canada.

Vintage: 2019

ABV: 12%

Purchased for CA $19 ($14 US)

Appearance: Dark ruby.

Nose: Fruit punch, allspice, a little toasted oak.

Palate: Medium bodied. Black raspberry, blueberry, cherry juice, leather.

Finish: Tart and a little tannic.

Parting words: This the third of the Rockway label wines I’ve reviewed, and the last one left in my cellar (not including my bottle of When Pigs Fly Pinot Noir from friend of the blog André Proulx & friends). For my review of Rockway’s 2017 Alter Ego Syrah and a brief account of our visit to the winery, click here. For my review of their 2018 Small Lot Riesling, click here, and click here for my review of the 2021 When Pigs Fly rosé of Pinot Noir.

At any rate, this wine is a good example of an Ontario-style Gamay. It’s got dark berries, spice, and a little oak. It’s closer to Juliénas or Régnié than the lighter, more acidic style of Gamay produced by makers in Northwestern Michigan. Some Ontarian Gamays can lean too far into oak and spice, but this one preserves that character while maintaining a healthy balance.

At any rate $19/$14 is a very good price for this wine. If you find yourself in St. Catherines, pick up a bottle. 2019 Rockway Gamay Noir is recommended.

Hawthorne Gamay Noir, 2017

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Maker: Hawthorne Vineyards, Traverse City, Michigan, USA.

Borrowed from 2016

Grape: Gamay (at least 85%)

Place of origin: Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Traverse City, Michigan, USA.

Vintage: 2017

ABV: 12.5%

Price: $12.50 (Meijer)

Appearance: Dark red.

Nose: Fruit punch, sweet cherry.

Palate: Sweet cherry pie, a little allspice.

Finish: Fruit and tannin.

Parting words: Almost a year ago, I reviewed the 2016 vintage of this wine for the second time. It had moved from being something of a fruit bomb, to something more complex and spicy. This wine is about halfway there. There’s still quite a lot of fruit, but a little spice is starting to develop. There are good things ahead for this wine, and given how good the 2017 vintage was, generally, it will probably end up being even better than its younger sibling. $12.50 is a steal for this wine. You’d be stupid NOT to buy a couple bottles of it at that price! Hawthorne’s 2017 Gamay Noir is recommended.

Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir Reserve, 2016

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Maker: Chateau Grand Traverse, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Grape: Gamay (at least 85%)

Place of origin: Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Traverse City, Michigan, USA (at least 85%)

Vintage: 2016

ABV: 13.9%

Purchased for $26

Appearance: Dark ruby.

Nose: Red currants, crushed blackberries, cedar, velvet.

Palate: Silky and full-bodied. Blueberry pie, pink peppercorn, black pepper.

Finish: Black currant jelly, clove.

Parting words: I reviewed the “regular” Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir back in 2019. You can read that review here. The difference between that and CGT’s reserve Gamay Noir is the amount of time the wine spends in oak, and $11 in price. That extra time has given the reserve fuller body, silkier texture, and more spice, although I’m sure two extra years in the bottle had an impact as well.

While that other Gamay was the equivalent of a good Beaujolais-Villages or bargain cru Beaujolais, this wine is like a Cru Beaujolais at around the same price point or even a little higher. The standard Gamay is an even better value, but there’s no reason to punish the reserve for the success of its cheaper sibling. It’s very much worth the price. 2016 Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir Reserve is recommended.

Hawthorne Gamay, 2016 (review 2)

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Maker: Hawthorne Vineyards, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Place of origin: Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Michigan, USA (at least 85%)wp-1578537576438.jpg

Grape: Gamay Noir (at least 85%)

Vintage: 2016

ABV: 12.3%

Purchased for $14 (Meijer)

Appearance: Ruby

Nose: Cedar, white pepper, crushed blackberry, blueberry, pomegranate seed, jowl bacon.

Palate: Light bodied. Fruity but semi-dry. Mulberry, raspberry, table grapes, plum.

Finish: A little acid, but mostly tannin and orchard fruit. Fades quickly.

Parting words: I last reviewed this wine over a year ago in September of 2018 when it was around two years old. When I compare those notes to this one, it seems like those months have made a pretty big difference. The wine has deepened and gotten more complex with spice and oak notes getting more prominent. In Beaujolais terms, this wine is moving from out of Fleurie and toward Morgon. I still have one more bottle in my cellar which I plan to open in another year or two to see how it’s changed again!   And the older it gets, the better the price gets. 2016 Hawthorne Gamay is recomennded.

 

Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir, 2016

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Maker: Chateau Grand Traverse, Traverse City, Michigan, USA.20190820_125139.jpg

Place of origin: Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Grape: Gamay

Vintage: 2016

ABV: 12%

Purchased for $15

Appearance: Translucent ruby.

Nose: Black currant, black pepper, toasted oak, raspberry.

Palate: Medium-bodied and juicy. Cranberry juice cocktails, blackberry, sauteed mushrooms.

Finish: Juicy, then jammy, then oaky.

Parting words: I last reviewed CGT’s Gamay Noir in 2011. That was the 2009 vintage. It was a good one, but how does the hot and steamy 2016 vintage compare?

Well, there’s no cherry in the 2016 like there was in the 2009, but they’re very similar in profile. The 2016 is a hair more complex with some earthiness on the palate. It’s the equivalent of a quality Beaujolais-Village or a value Morgon. Chateau Grand Traverse retains its title as the king of Gamay in Michigan. This wine is recommended.

 

Cave Spring Gamay, 2015

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Maker: Cave Spring, Jordan, Ontario, Canada20190102_153901.jpg

Grape: Gamay Noir (at least 85%)

Place of origin: Niagara Escarpment VQA, Ontario, Canada

Vintage: 2015

ABV: 13%

Price: $12.50 USD ($17 Canadian, LCBO)

Appearance: Dark burgundy.

Nose: Black pepper, earth, blackberry jam, peony.

Palate: Semi-dry and full-flavored. Reminiscent of Cru Chénas or Cru Juliénas. Earthy but fruity. Blackberry, mushroom.

Finish: Tart with a little spice. Fades pretty quickly.

Parting words: This is the last wine I have left from my last trip to the LCBO a few months ago. It was a part of my effort to give myself a crash course in Gamay. I expected it to be similar to the Gamay produced by Chateau Grand Traverse or Hawthorne on Old Mission Peninsula in Northern Michigan, but it was not like those at all. Cave Spring’s was fruity but “darker” and spicier than I expected. I found that quality off-putting at first, but I grew to enjoy it over the time it was open. That’s where the comparison to Chénas comes in. I remember the first time I tasted one, I was shocked at how unlike it was from any other Beaujolais I had tasted before. I was intrigued, though, and at that moment began planning the crash course.

At any rate, this is a Gamay that one can easily drink with any sort of cuisine and at $12.50 (plus border toll) it’s affordable enough to be in weeknight rotation. 2015 Cave Spring Gamay is recommended.

 

Hawthorne Gamay, 2016

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Maker: Hawthorne Vineyards, Traverse City, Michigan, USA20180905_191254.jpg

Grape: Gamay (at least 85%)

Place of origin: Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Vintage: 2016

ABV: 12.3%

Purchased for $14 (Meijer)

Appearance: Translucent ruby.

Nose: Fruit punch, toasted oak.

Palate: Raspberry, strawberry, black cherry, wood, clove.

Finish: Cherry juice, oak

Purchased: I love Gamay and I love this wine. It is a great example of what Gamay does best. It makes fruity, enjoyable wines that are great summer sippers or alongside the sort of food Pinot Noir usually accompanies. If I were to compare it to a red from Beaujolais (Gamay’s home base), I would say it most resembles a quality Beaujolais-Villages or a fruity Cru Beaujolais like Fleurie. It’s great to drink now, but it will probably deepen and grow more complex if cellared for another year or more. I recently finished a bottle of Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir from 2014 that was still quite good, so don’t feel rushed. $14 is a very good price. 2016 Hawthorne Vineyards Gamay is recommended.

Blind Gamay head to head: Beaujolais vs. Old Mission

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Yes, it’s another head to head! This time I decided to pit a 2014 Gamay Noir from Chateau 20180131_170642.jpgGrand Traverse on Old Mission Peninsula against a 2014 Beaujolais-Villages from Joseph Drouhin, one of Burgundy’s biggest négociants (wine buyers/blenders/bottlers). I enlisted the help of friends of the blog Amy and Pete to help us out (last seen here). Just to make sure we were tasting the wine and not our biases, we tasted these two wines blind. I’ll review them that way too, revealing which is which (and price and ABV) at the end. I’ll integrate the co-taster’s notes into my own, noting if they differ from mine.

Appearance

A: Dark rose.

B: Similar, but a little darker

Nose

A: Fruity, berries specifically. I also smelled pepper and a drop of balsamic vinegar (in a good way)

B: Very similar, maybe a little more oak and a little less balsamic.

Palate

A: Light bodied. Strawberry, blackberry, oak.

B: Same flavor palette, but a little drier, chewier and more intense. That said, none of us knew if I could tell these two apart in a wider tasting. They both grew tart as they warmed, shifting into raspberry.

Finish

A: Drying. Balsamic, oak.

B: Similar but drier and longer.

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I forgot to take pictures of the Gamay tasting, so here’s Amy & Pete tasting Riesling.

THE REVEAL

A= Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais-Villages, 2014. 12.5% ABV. $16 (Holiday Market)

B= Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir, 2014 (Old Mission Peninsula AVA). 12% ABV. $15 (Holiday Market)

The CGT Gamay Noir performed slightly better, but as I wrote above, the wines were virtually identical. Both were delicious and paired well with the chocolate and cheese we nibbled on during the tasting. They’d both do well with grilled or roasted chicken, salmon or pork. Both are recommended, but why not save yourself a buck while supporting the Mitten state and pick up a bottle of CGT Gamay Noir the next time you buy wine!

 

 

 

Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau

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Maker: Duboeuf, Romanèche-Thorins, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, Francewpid-2014-11-26-10.03.20.jpg.jpeg

Grape: Gamay

Place of origin: Beaujolais, Burgundy, France

Vintage: 2014

ABV: 12%

Purchased for $9

Appearance: Dark burgundy.

Nose: Blueberry, red current, red raspberry, black cherry.

Palate: Same berry flavors on the palate, but with a hint of pepper.

Finish: Short with a slight tang and more berries.

Parting words: Duboeuf is one of the most famous of the Bungundian négociants and it’s probably most famous for this wine, Beaujolais Nouveau. This wine has come a long way from the heady days of the late 20th century, but it still graces many American Thanksgiving Day tables and serves as a gateway to Burgundy for many people, as it was for me.

To paraphrase Linus, “it’s not a bad little wine.” It pairs well with turkey and smoked meats and is inoffensive enough to serve to the whole family. This vintage is all berries and little else. If that appeals to you, get it. Also, remember it’s only $9, so pound away (slightly chilled.

). Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2014 is recommended.

Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir

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Maker: Chateau Grand Traverse, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Region: Old Mission AVA, Michigan, USA

Grape: Gamay

Vintage: 2009 (2008 vintage pictured)

ABV: 12.5%

Appearance: Light burgundy with long, fairly thick legs

Nose: Plums, leather, black pepper, cherry. For once a back label is dead on.

On the palate: Light mouth feel, fruity tart cherry up front. As it sits in the glass, the leather and black pepper notes come to the fore. There’s still plenty of fruit, though. A delightful dichotomy of deliciousness. Yes, I just wrote that.

Finish: Clean finish with some lingering tastes of cherry juice and the ubiquitous black pepper.

Parting words: The name Gamay isn’t well known, but many people do know the name of its most famous product, Beaujolais. It has always had its detractors. Two different Dukes of Burgundy outlawed the cultivation of “disloyal Gaamez” in the 15th century. For the record, I am a fan of Gamay, especially in Beaujolais. I was surprised by the peppery nose but it gives it depth and interest that I wasn’t expecting. The pepper moves it closer to estate or cru Beaujolais (according to the internet anyway) than the Beaujolais-Village I drink to wash down my pork chops. This is a very good, food-friendly, but not dumbed down, wine. Recommended.