Wine Review: Gamay Outside the Box

World Beaujolais Nouveau Day just passed last week, but I decided to drink some Gamay beyond your typical Beaujolais. 

Gamay in different forms

You can read more about the most well-known categories of Beaujolais: Beaujolais Nouveau and Beaujolais Cru in a previous post, but in a nutshell, what most Beaujolais reds have in common is undergoing some form of carbonic maceration. However, for this comparison, I found a Beaujolais Cru made more in the Burgundian method without carbonic maceration. In addition, I also found a Gamay (the red variety used in Beaujolais) from outside the Beaujolais region. It didn’t undergo carbonic maceration either. Lastly, I found a Pet Nat (sparkling) Beaujolais. Let’s look at how they are different in terms of wine making and their tasting profile. 

Winemaking & Tasting Notes

2019 Jean-Paul Brun Domaine des Terres Dorees Morgon 

Jean-Paul Brun is one of the top producers in Beaujolais. He’s a low intervention, organic producer. He ferments with native yeasts. Only minimal sulfites are added before bottling. However, unlike most producers in the region, he doesn’t use carbonic maceration. Grapes are destemmed, crushed and fermented in tank. The wine is aged in concrete for 6-8 months (unlike Cru Burgundy which has oak aging). Light filtration. 

The lieu-dit of this Cru is Bellevue, not far from the Cote du Puy, with sand, schist and granite. The nose is rather shy but it features bright berry fruit and floral notes with a touch of minerality. The palate has red tangy fruit. A touch bitter on the back-end. It’s also a bit more tannic than most Beaujolais, but still nothing that’s noticeable with food. It feels a bit closed at the moment, so perhaps it’ll open up with time. I like the style of the wine, but I was expecting more overall intensity from a Beaujolais Cru. 89

NV Jean-Paul Brun FRV100 Beaujolais 

The name of the cuvee is a play on words in French, which sounds like “effervescent” when pronounced. This is because it is made using the méthode ancestrale, or more commonly known today as Petillant Naturel (Pet Nat). In the most general sense, it means that it’s a wine that is bottled while it’s still fermenting which gives the wine some intentional fizz (unlike still wines that are unintentionally fizzy at first due to post secondary fermentation). The term Pet Nat also means they use spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts. Hence, it is “natural.” This leads to light effervescent, or petillant, wines that are lower in sugar and alcohol than typical sparkling wines like Champagne, so it’s become trendy for those looking for a tasty but healthier wine or simply a wine they can drink more of without getting drunk as fast.  By the way, Chileans have been essentially drinking Pet Nats for centuries, but here it’s called Chicha. 

Organic Gamay on limestone, clay soils. Hand-harvested, destemmed and fermented in vat until it reaches around 6% alcohol. No carbonic maceration like the other two. It is then lightly filtered and bottled and finishes fermenting with indigenous yeasts in the bottle. Unlike non-vintage Champagne, they don’t mix vintages, so this all comes from one vintage. 

Some yeasty notes, fruity and slightly sweet. It has the fruity side of Beaujolais with some fizz. It should go well with berry pies or what we had it with: fruit flavored macaron. I don’t drink enough Pet Nat to give it a rating, and it’s not really the point of Pet Nats. Just enjoy it for what it is with no pretense as if you’re drinking Dom Perignon. 

2019 Andre & Michel Quenard Chignin Gamay 

This is Gamay from the Savoie, which is known for white wines and Mondeuse more than Gamay. Given the cooler, less sunny climate, the wines here tend to be light and crisp. 

30 year old vineyard. Half-destemmed. Stainless steel fermentation and aging for 10 months. Fruity, floral nose with a sweet spicy, nutmeg like smell. On the palate, it’s a light, fresh and fruity red. Although the Morgon was fuller, denser and more complex, this is more expressive. It’s maximizing its potential while the Morgon could get better. A little fruitier than the average Gamay I drank while living in Geneva on the other side of the mountains. 89

Conclusion

All these wines show the light and fruity side of Gamay without the candy or banana flavors that carbonic maceration can bring. None of these spent time in oak although many Beaujolais Cru do, both ones with carbonic maceration and without, so these were Gamay stripped down to its natural form with the Savoie version showing its cooler climate.