Gamay (Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc) is a a red variety best known for its role in Beaujolais, where the wines are usually consumed young to appreciate their fresh, fruity qualities. Generally light in colour, usually more blue-purple than red, wines made from Gamay can be very fragrant, full of fruit and fresh, floral esters but tend to be short lived.
Apart from Beaujolais, Gamay is grown in the Loire Valley where it is usually blended with Cabernet Franc and a local clone of Malbec to make wines that resemble Beaujolais with raspberry notes and the fresh-peppery nose of Cabernet Franc. Gamay is also planted in the Rhône, Jura and Savoie. Gamay can be blended with Pinot Noir to produce lesser wines in Burgundy, and in Switzerland the same blend produces a wine known as Dole.
Gamay can produce wines of distinction when the vines are growing on alkaline soils, which help to soften the grape's high acidity. Gamay ripens two weeks earlier than Pinot Noir and is less difficult to cultivate, producing a fruitier wine in much larger quantities.
That didn’t, however, make it popular. In July 1395 Philippe the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, ordered Gamay to be torn out and banned the variety from being planted, since, in spite of its high yield, the variety occupied land that could be used for Pinot Noir. Although the decree nearly eradicated Gamay in Burgundy, it found a home in Beaujolais. Sixty years later, Philippe the Good issued another edict against Gamay on the grounds that the variety undermined the reputation of Burgundy’s best wines.
Early drinking Beaujolais Nouveau is produced from the limestone soils of southern Beaujolais where acid levels are too high for making wines without carbonic maceration. The fruit is placed, uncrushed, in the fermenting vessel and fermentation begins within the berries, trapping bubbles of carbon dioxide until the grape bursts. The resulting wine has a lighter, brighter colour, and a fruity aroma.
In Australia, Gamay is grown across a broad range of climates, from Southern Tasmania, through the Mornington Peninsula and the Yarra Valley into North Eastern Victoria, the Hunter Valley and Queensland’s Granite Belt. As an early ripening variety Gamay is suited to cooler regions, but its wide distribution in Australia suggests a fairly versatile variety.
In temperate climates you could serve such wines cool, rather than chilled, at room temperature in the cooler months, but on a North Queensland summer’s day, they’re best straight from the fridge into the glass.
Gamay and light red styles work well with chicken, turkey and veal or with hors d’œuvres, or antipasto at the start of the meal.