Gamay Noir
This lesser-known Burgundian red delivers Pinot Noir-like qualities at an excellent value. Gamay is an underrated food pairing wine, with moderate acidity, light body, restrained tannins and tangy fruit notes that allow it to stand up to both hearty foods and lighter cuisine. It is a wine that is both graceful and wild, continuing to gain complexity as it ages.
Gamay primarily comes from the Beaujolais region in the southern part of Burgundy and is rarely seen in other parts of the world. This wine should not be confused with the stylistically different but more commonly known Beaujolais Nouveau–a light-bodied, fresh wine intended to be consumed immediately following the growing season. Our version is inspired by the more serious style of “Cru Beaujolais,” which produces a darker, fuller-bodied, more complex terroir-driven wine that will age gracefully for years.
Our budwood was sourced directly from one of the oldest plantings of Gamay in the U.S. and field grafted to a block of Pinot Noir in 2014. Enamored with the results, we planted another block using selected cuttings from the first block, giving us two sources for selection each year.
Estate Gamay
Estate
Gamay
Our Estate Gamay is a direct manifestation of its Burgundian counterpart, and a tribute to the French vignerons. It can be enjoyable lunch wine, yet it can stand up to hearty dishes as well, illustrating a marvelous flexibility at a tremendous value.
Utilizing traditional French methods, this wine is fermented carbonically in a large closed-top concrete tank using 100% native yeast. Grapes are fermented entirely whole berry, with some percentage whole cluster, depending on the vintage. The wine is pressed and transferred to neutral French oak barriques for 9 months aging, then bottled young to preserve its freshness and vibrancy.
2022 Estate Gamay
Pick date: 9/2
6W Gamay Brix: 25.5
4E Gamay Brix: 23.9
Acidity: 6.5 g/L
PH: 3.45
Alc: 14%
Barrel protocols: 50% whole cluster fermented with pump-overs only, 50% fully destemed w/ one punch-down, then pump-overs. Aged in neutral oak 228L barriques for 6 ½ months.
Estate
PTG
The Estate PTG is our very intentional version of the little-known Passe-Tout-Grains wines made in Burgundy, traditionally a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir. Gamay thrives particularly in the southern part of Burgundy and is generally a somewhat higher-yielding varietal, but it shares many of the delicate characteristics associated with Pinot Noir.
In France, these wines are blended with varying protocols and invariably scooped up by Paris bistros as their house selections – thus they are seldom seen anywhere else. By contrast, our objective is to be more deliberate. We harvest from two specific blocks of Gamay and Pinot Noir on the same night to ensure perfectly even ripeness. We process the fruit together, literally layering the two varietals on top of another in a special, sealed concrete fermenter made specifically for this process. This blend of 33% Pinot Noir and 67% Gamay is co-fermented carbonically with native yeast, and then aged in neutral French oak.
2022 Estate PTG
Pinot Pick date: 9/2
Gamay pick date: 9/7
Pinot Brix: 23.3
Gamay Brix: 23.8
Acidity: 5.9 g/L
PH: 3.8
Alc: 13.53%, 70% Pinot/30% Gamay
Barrel protocols: 3W-828-Pinot destemmed, topped with 6W-Gamay whole cluster. Fermented in 3,800L stainless VC tanks, pump-overs only. Aged in neutral oak 228L barriques for 6 ½ months.