Gamay

Grape Vari­ety: Gamay

Geog­ra­phy: Main region: Bur­gundy, France. Some grown in the Ardèche and Loire, but vir­tu­ally all in France.

Viti­cul­ture: Flour­ishes best on the gran­ite hills of Bur­gundy, where the best Beau­jo­lais Vil­lages is produced.

Varietal/Blend: None. It is used alone as a varietal.

Fla­vor & Char­ac­ter: Cherry and candy fla­vored with a hint of raspberry.

Vini­fi­ca­tion: Usu­ally fer­mented using car­bonic mac­er­a­tion, i.e., fer­mented quickly under a pro­tec­tive layer of car­bon dioxide.

Style: Refresh­ing, fairly sharp and best drunk young. Sim­ple style.

Body, Dry/Sweet: Light bod­ied, dis­tinc­tive and uncomplex.

Notes: Gamay is the Beau­jo­lais grape. Famous Beau­jo­lais Nou­veau some­times lacks fruity flavor.