Gamay, the beaujolais variety

Gamay: gaining popularity in Australia

Gamay grape

Gamay is a versatile red wine grape variety best known for its role in Beaujolais, but it also plays many other roles in winemaking in other regions of France and elsewhere.

It also makes spicy reds and roses in the lower Loire Valley. In Burgundy, Gamay plays second fiddle to Pinot Noir as a component in lesser wines. In Switzerland it plays a similar role where it is blended with Pinot Noir to produce a wine known as Dole.

The fashion for full bodied wines a la Parker has left lighter styled wines in a shadow. This is a pity because Gamay wines can be excellent. Just as every meal does not have to be a huge piece of steak, every wine you drink does not have to be a superheavyweight either. Wines from this variety can be full flavoured, don't be fooled by their lighter colour and body.

You will find a few plantings in Australia across a broad range of climates, from Southern Tasmania, the Mornington Peninsula, North Eastern Victoria, the Yarra Valley, Hunter Valley and the Granite Belt in Queensland.

This early ripening variety is suitable in cooler regions, but its wide distribution in Australian wine regions suggests that it is a versatile variety.

I can find no better description of Gamay's varietal character than this sentence from Karen MacNeil, author of the Wine Bible

"Drinking Gamay is like diving into a pool of black cherries."

Beaujolais and other Gamay wines are usually best consumed young. This allows you to enjoy the fruity flavours.

Gamay and Food

Pair gamay and lighter red style with foods such as chicken, turkey or veal. You should also try them at the start of the meal with lighter hors d’œuvres, or antipasto.

Serve these wines cool, rather than chilled on a warm summer day, or at room temperature in the cooler months.

Wineries using this variety in Australia include:

Wine Grapes- Red

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Bass Phillip Gippsland
Brave Goose Winery Goulburn Valley
Cofield Wines Rutherglen
Cushendell Southern Highlands
Darling Estate King Valley
Elan Vineyard Mornington Peninsula
Eldridge Estate Mornington Peninsula
Evans Family Wines Hunter Valley
Fernbrook Estate Porongurup
Gowrie Mountain Estate Darling Downs
Grandview Vineyard Southern Tasmania
Happs Margaret River
John Gehrig Wines King Valley
Lawson Hill Mudgee
Little Bridge Canberra
Marybrook Vineyards and Winery Margaret River
Mount Burrumboot Estate Heathcote
Pennyweight Winery Beechworth
Pfeiffer Wines Rutherglen
Red Earth Estate Western Plains
Roundstone Winery Yarra Valley
Scarpatoni Estate McLaren Vale
Sailors Falls Macedon Ranges
Sorrenberg Beechworth
Sutherlands Creek Vineyard Geelong
Wilmot Hills Vineyard Northern Tasmania

John Gehrig Wines of the King Valley report that they topped the light red wine class at the 2007 Mebourne Wine Show

Back from Gamay to Vinodiversity's wine variety index

See this question and answer about light red wines in Australia

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