Understand the grape
Getting to know the grape
Gamay is a natural cross of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc, an old white grape. Its full name, Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc, means black grape with white juice: the skins are dark but the juice is clear, so colour and tannin come only from skin contact. The skins are thin, and the grape ripens early and crops generously, so growers have to limit the crop to get wines with real flavour. Inter Beaujolais, the growers' and merchants' body, names granite as the soil the grape seems to prefer. The wines are usually ruby or purple-red, with raspberry, wild strawberry, cherry and blackberry flavours, sometimes with violet or pepper. Tannin, the drying grip you feel on your gums, is low, and acidity is fresh.
Beaujolais is a place name, and the grape is understood. Inter Beaujolais says about 30,000 hectares of Gamay are planted worldwide and that roughly half of them are in Beaujolais, where it covers 97 or 98 per cent of the vineyard depending on the page. A bottle labelled Fleurie or Morgon will be Gamay even though the word may not appear on the front label. Outside Beaujolais the grape is usually named: Touraine Gamay from the Loire, or Gamay from Geneva, Vaud and Valais in Switzerland.
Where Gamay changes
Grape to place
Compare how the grape grows and tastes in these places. Each guide explains the local wines; the Atlas shows where they come from.
Beaujolais
Hills about 55 kilometres long between Mâcon and Lyon, planted almost entirely to Gamay. Clay and limestone in the south, sandy and granitic soil in the north. Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages are the everyday names, and the ten crus sit above them.
The ten Beaujolais crus
Ten named villages in the north of Beaujolais, from Saint-Amour to Brouilly. Most stand on granite, but each mixes it differently, so Fleurie tends to be perfumed and gentle, while Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent are darker and can age for ten years or more.
Touraine
In the middle Loire, east of Tours, Gamay is grown alongside Sauvignon Blanc and Côt. Touraine Gamay is usually made as a single-grape red and tends to be lighter and less deep than the Beaujolais crus, with red fruit and soft tannin.
Switzerland
Gamay is Switzerland's third most planted red grape, with just over 1,000 hectares, mostly in Valais, Vaud and Geneva. It is bottled alone or blended with Pinot Noir in Dôle, a Valais wine.
What changes the result
Vineyard and cellar
The ripeness of the grapes, contact with their skins, and time in tanks or barrels all help shape the wine. Here is what to look for.
Semi-carbonic maceration
Traditional Beaujolais is made from whole bunches. They go into a vat, and the weight of the grapes at the bottom crushes some and releases juice. Fermentation starts there, and the carbon dioxide it gives off fills the vat, so the whole berries above begin fermenting inside their own skins. Inter Beaujolais credits this internal fermentation with the wine's fruitiness. Because the grapes are not crushed, the result is bright and aromatic with little tannin.
Hand harvest and gobelet vines
In Beaujolais the grapes are picked by hand, which suits whole-bunch fermentation, because the bunches must arrive intact. Most vines are pruned short into a small bush called a gobelet, which Inter Beaujolais calls one of the best ways of managing a grape that is vigorous and productive. Single cordon training, with the vine trained along one wire, is becoming more common.
Early drinking and ageing
Beaujolais Nouveau is the same grape fermented fast and sold in the weeks after harvest, on the third Thursday of November. Wines for keeping stay longer in vat, cask or oak and are bottled the following summer or later. Oak is a choice, not a rule. Some growers use old barrels for a smoother texture, and others keep to tank for pure fruit.
Loire primeur and blends
In the Loire, Anjou Gamay and Touraine Gamay are also made as primeur wines, sold from the same November date after whole-bunch fermentation. InterLoire says Gamay can be blended with Cabernet or Côt to add colour, freshness and fruit, and that some Touraine Mesland wines are made to keep for a few years.
Read the label
On the bottle
A label may name the place instead of the grape. These names and terms help you work out what is in the bottle.
- Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages
- The two wider appellations. Beaujolais covers mainly the south and is usually the lightest, most fruity style. Beaujolais-Villages comes from the northern part, around the crus, and tends to be a little fuller.
- The ten crus
- Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Régnié and Saint-Amour. They are village appellations, usually printed without the word Beaujolais. Gamay is understood.
- Beaujolais Nouveau
- A young wine released on the third Thursday of November, a few weeks after harvest. It is made to be drunk that winter, not kept. Beaujolais Nouveau and Beaujolais Primeur are labels for freshness and timing, not for a quality level.
- Touraine Gamay
- In the Loire, red wines from Gamay carry the grape name after the Touraine appellation. Without it, a Touraine red may be made from other grapes.
- Dôle
- A Valais wine that combines Gamay with Pinot Noir. A Swiss bottle labelled Gamay on its own is a different wine from Dôle.
At the table and in the cellar
Practical use
Serve
Serve most Gamay between 12 and 15°C, which is cooler than many reds. Inter Beaujolais suggests 13 to 15°C for Fleurie and Chiroubles and 12 to 14°C for Moulin-à-Vent, with 15 to 17°C for Morgon. A slight chill keeps young fruit lively. Use a glass with a generous bowl so the perfume has room.
Eat
Low tannin and fresh acidity let Gamay sit beside fatty and salty food. Charcuterie, roast chicken, sausages with lentils, pork, mushroom quiche, grilled vegetables, soft cheeses and fresh goat's cheese all suit it. The fuller crus can take duck or rabbit in mustard sauce. Very spicy or sweet-glazed dishes can make the fruit seem thin.
Keep
Simple Beaujolais and Touraine Gamay are for the first one to three years after bottling, while the fruit is bright. Swiss Wine Promotion gives the same range for most Gamay and says the best can keep for five to ten years. Inter Beaujolais says Morgon can age for about ten years, and that Moulin-à-Vent can keep for more than ten, developing a Pinot Noir-like character with age.
Taste it in three steps
Three bottles
You can try these bottles on separate occasions. Keep a note of the name, vintage and what you notice, then use the steps below to decide what to compare.
- 01
Start with Beaujolais-Villages
Pour a Beaujolais-Villages from a recent vintage and chill it for half an hour. Notice the red fruit, the fresh acidity and how little tannin grips your gums.
- 02
Move to a cru
Try a Fleurie or Chiroubles beside it. Look for more perfume, with violet or iris, and a slightly longer finish, while the wine stays light.
- 03
Taste a darker cru
Finish with Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent. Compare the colour, the darker fruit and the firmer tannin, and see how far the same grape has moved from the first glass.