Gamay Grape

   
  After seeing a photo of a wine bottle with Hello Kitty on the label in class on Tuesday evening, I began to become interested in which grape produced that particular bottle of wine. It turns out that the grape used was the Gamay grape. In order to learn more about this particular variety of grape, I learned about the history of the Gamay grape, where it is grown, distinguishing characteristics, and good food pairings for this wine.

History:

      The Gamay grape originated in the Gamay village in France during the mid 14th century. This specific grape helped the region recover after the Black Death had plagued the area. The full name of this grape is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc which means Black Gamay with White Juice. An interesting fact which I learned upon my research of this grape variety was that the dukes of Burgundy tried to outlaw the production of this variety in order to make the more popular Pinot Noir. However, the grape stayed in the region due to its prolific growth in the area. 
                                                                     

    Regions Grown:
 
       The Gamay grape is mainly grown in France, particularly in the Beaujolais village. It is also grown in Maconnais, Savoie, and Touraine. Approximately 95% of its use comes from France! This map shows some of the major areas in France where the grape is grown. The second most popular area where this grape is grown is in Switzerland. In Switzerland, the locals like to blend wine produced from the Gamay grape with Pinot Noir. Also, the Gamay grape is gaining popularity in Canada due to its flavor and overall freshness. One cool fact I learned about the Gamay grape is that it grows excellently in granite and limestone soils. 
   
Characteristics:

     The Gamay grape is a thin-skinned, red wine grape.It often is described as having fruity aromas and tasting of red cherries and strawberries. Yum! It can often have notes of bananas as well. This particular grape can give off a very acidic flavor; so, the process of carbonic maceration is used to decrease the acid and up play the fruit of the grape. The Gamay grape is also known to produce wines with a low tannin content. Something I was not aware of with wines is that if a wine has a low tannin content it should be consumed early rather than aged for a while. Wine connoisseurs recommend drinking these bottles within two years of bottling. The color of wine often has a distinctive bluish-purple hue from the carbonic maceration process. A very positive aspect about this grape for college students is that the wine produced from it is often at affordable prices!! From all of these characteristics, I believe that this may be a red wine that I would enjoy drinking!

Food Pairings:

     Since I enjoy cooking, I decided to look up some recommended pairings with Gamay grapes. This wine is supposed to pair nicely with a light lunch of pasta or salad. It is also known to work well with roast turkey with cranberry sauce! I think that this qualifies as a holiday timed wine to go along with all of the turkey. It is also known to work well with a grilled salmon fillet with roasted fennel.

 

After learning so much information about this particular wine variety, I am very interested to try wines produced from Gamay grapes.