06/21/05 Gamay

Welcome to Vine to Wine, this is your host Linda Moran and yesterday we answered a question about the wine Beaujolais. Today we are going to find out about the Gamay grape that is used to produce the wines from Beaujolais. As we have discussed many times in the past; in France the wines are primarily named for the place that they come from not the grape or grapes that they are made out of. Such is the case with Beaujolais. Beaujolais is the name of a place within the region of Burgundy. In Beaujolais they are famous for growing a grape named Gamay. Gamay is a red grape that thrives in the granite soils of the southern part of Burgundy. It generally produces wine with low tannins and high acidity. This tends to make it a red wine that can be served slightly chilled. Gamay lends itself to being blended with a bit of Pinot Noir and this is often the practice when you drink a wine called Macconais. Most of us have probably heard the name Gamay first when used for a Californis wine called Gamay Beaujolias. These are not the same grape. The grape from California is thought to be a clone of Pinot Noir. The Gamay grape is capable of making light simple wines such as the Beaujolais Villages that is a quaffable example or the very serious cru Beaujolais such as Cote de Brouilly, Regnie Fleurie and one of my favorites Morgon to name just a few. Ask for some recommendations from your local wine merchant and begin getting to know Gamay. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.