Gamay Noir

Gamay Noir


This week I bring you the red grape Gamay Noir; a great summer red that could also be considered the poor man's Pinot. Gamay is a french grape with it's traditional home in the Beaujolais region. Most Gamay you will find will be a Beaujolais, but there are some nice examples here in BC. It is pale in colur like a Pinot with flavours of strawberry, cherry, and raspberry.

There are 4 different styles/qualifications of Beaujolais. The most common is Beaujolais; these can be found in most Liquor stores, and are usually under $15. Great easy drinking wine that can benefit from being served slightly chilled. Beaujolais is meant to be drunk young and is going to be a light, fruity dry wine with light tannin. Beaujolais usually goes through a process called Carbonic Maceration. Initially the grapes are not crushed and the whole clusters are put into vats filled with carbon dioxide to have the juice start it's fermentation inside the grape. This will give flavours of cherry, bubblegum, banana, and sometimes cinnamon spice.

If you like what you taste with a simple Beaujolais; you could try a Beaujolais Villages. These are from the better sites on the hills north of the village and a few dollars more. There are 39 in total and will tend to have a bit more character and depth. Some of the grapes will see some oak.

The 10 best villages are labeled Beaujolais crus, and will usually be labeled with the village name like Moulin-a-vent, Fleurie, Morgon, or Brouilly. Actually, as I write this I am sipping on a 2013 Brouilly that I found on sale for under $20. These cru wines will usually see some oak ageing and be vinified traditionally, and some can see some bottle age.

The last style is Beaujolais Nouveau, this is released on the third Thursday of November after the harvest and meant to be drunk right away. It gives a fresh fruity example of what the later wines may taste like.

Several BC wineries have adopted Gamay and some years it does quite well due to it's early ripening. Most are under $20 and may be a good substitute for a lighter Pinot Noir. Try out Mt Boucherie's, Oak Bay, or for an oaked version Desert Hills.

So if your looking for something new to try, or looking for a fun summer red that is refreshing on a hot day. Give a Beaujolais or a Gamay Noir a try.

Enjoy, and as always thanks for reading!

                    

10 Beaujolais Cru Villages:

Saint-Amour  /  Julienas  /  Chenas  /  Moulin-a-Vent  / Fleurie

Chiroubles  /  Morgon  /  Regnie  /  Brouilly  /  Cote de Brouilly

                          

Medoc - 2005

Wine of the Week

Chateau Labadie - Medoc - 2005

Wine Time!

This Canada Day I found a real gem. I was at Everything Wine in North Vancouver, and doing my usual quick run into the store (45-60 min). In the Bordeaux section of France I found this 2005 Medoc from Chateau Labadie for around $32. I usually don't spend that much on a Wednesday wine, but a ten year old wine from Bordeaux for just over $30 is a hard find, I'm in!

First a Bordeaux primer as it can be quite confusing. Bordeaux is primarily split into 2 regions split by the Girande River. The Left Bank, which tends to be Cab Sauv based, and the Right Bank, which tends to be Merlot based. Almost all Bordeaux wines are blends and are some of the most prestigious, expensive and sought after wines in the world.There are 13 grapes permitted by law but the most common are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and sometimes Malbec and Carmenere for the reds. For the whites you will see Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle.

Left Bank main Appellations:                            Right Bank main Appellations:
      Medoc & Graves                                                 Saint-Emilion & Pomerol 
     
Within these appellations lie many Chateau's that have all been ranked according to their quality level. The original classification system was implemented in 1855 on the request of Napoleon while prepping for the world's fair (except Saint-Emillion is classified separate). Most of it hasn't changed since then. I could go on all day about the differences in the classifications, and nuances between each region, but that is for another time.

2005 was a great Vintage for Medoc, was the best of the decade until 2009, so these wines are just starting to drink well now and are usually priced a lot higher. This producers vineyards are planted with 42% Merlot, 51% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Split between clay limestone soils, and well draining gravel soils. This wine is also a Cru Bougeois classified wine; which any Medoc Chateau can submit a wine for review. The wine has to be submitted each and every year to get this higher quality labeling term.

This Chateau Labadie had nice aromas of blackcurrant, blackberry, with some slightly toasted dried herbs with a hint of spice. The colour was well into the garnet spectrum showing age with some nice earthy tobacco notes and a long mouth watering finish.

If you are looking to treat yourself to a nice bottle,or want to see what an entry level Bordeaux wine tastes like; this is a good place to start. Since this is labeled Medoc AC all the grapes had to come from the Medoc region. You can find some cheaper general Bordeaux wines. These will simply be labeled Bordeaux AC, or Bordeaux Superieur AC and can come from anywhere in Bordeaux. These wines tend to be thin without much complexity and are Merlot dominated. The Superieur wines will have a slightly higher alcohol level.


.....more on Bordeaux some other day, thanks again for reading!

Devon

Re-entering society

I'm Back!

Wine Exam - Complete 
   WSET - Advanced - 15 week course - Complete

I am back amongst the living;  my Advanced WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) is complete. It was an intense 15 week journey through the history, geography, soils, climate, and of course the different grapes of the world. This was a way more intense then the Level 2 I did in the fall. During the 15 weeks we tasted over $5000 in wine and spirits, and it really was a great adventure for my nose and palate.

The exam was 3 sections; a blind tasting of a white and red wine, 50 multiple choice, and several pages of written short answer questions. You do the blind taste first and you have 30 mins to do complete tasting notes for both wines, about a page each. The white was a 2013 New Zealand Sauvignon  Blanc, and the red was a 2004 Spanish Grand Reserve Rioja. Both showed really well and were a treat to taste.

I won't get the exam results for 8-10 weeks; as it is off to England to be marked but the governing body. I didn't do as well as I wanted because of a lot of questions were about fortified wines like Sherry, Port, and Madeira; which are not my strong point, or much to my liking. I do believe I have passed, and can start considering the next step.

First up, I can start drinking BC wine again. It isn't well know on the international scale, so no need to study it for the exam. The last couple of months I have only been drinking classic wines from the world's classic wine regions. It is nice to just sit and enjoy a glass again with out fretting over the characteristics and what soil it may have been planted on.

 I look forward to sharing some of these wines and more that I will be enjoying this summer, so stay tuned for future posts. Thanks for reading!

Devon