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Gamay: The “Unfaithful” Grape of Burgundy

Gamay: The “Unfaithful” Grape of Burgundy

Introduction

Gamay has never had an easy life. As you will see its background and history have been bumpy. Philip II the Bold banished it from the vineyards of Burgundy, and even nowadays many don’t appreciated it. Why? Because it has got one of the worst competitors in the world: Pinot Noir. To make things worse, this is Côte d’Or, the place where most prized and expensive wines come from.

Fortunately, consumers are becoming more frugal and willing to try new underrated products. Wine has become a trend and a way to build relationships all over the world. Therefore, people want to know as much as they can about it. Perhaps, they start knowing that the best expressions of Gamay are from Beaujolais. But some people aren’t aware of the bad nickname of this grape variety yet.

We are here to give credits to those grape varieties that haven’t been in the spotlight for way too long. Gamay, this is your time!

History: The Origin of The “Unfaithful” Nickname

Everything started with Philip II the bold’s order to banish it from the vineyards of Burgundy in 1395. He used this words to describe Gamay.

“Many of our subjects have planted vines of a very bad and very unfaithful plant called Gaamez, from which very bad plant comes a huge abundance of wine, for which the good places where good wine was once made have been left to be abandoned. And this wine from Gaamez is of such a nature that it can be dangerous to man, and infect him with serious diseases because the mentioned wine that comes from the mentioned plant with the mentioned nature is full of great and horrible bitterness and becomes terribly smelly”.

Source: Burgundy, The Vineyards of the Côte d’Or, Armando Castagno (pag 47)

Dangerous“, “serious diseases“, “horrible bitterness“, and “terribly smelly“. This is just his point of view regarding Gamay. But I don’t think these words are suitable for the grape variety we know today. These words have been replaced by more gentle and interesting ones such as “ultra-fruity“, “thirst-quenching“, and “acidity-driven“.

Nowadays we are able to explain the reason why people considered this grape so unpleasant. The Côte d’Or’s terroir didn’t fit Gamay. First of all the alkaline soils, typical of the Côte d’Or, isn’t Gamay’s cup of tea. In fact, the grape variety is more suitable for the granite soil of the northern part of Beaujolais. Secondly, the Côte d’Or’s climate is continental. Whereas Gamay needs a more moderate climate to fully ripen and soften the “horrible bitterness” that wasn’t pleasing Philip II.

Figure 1: A manuscript with strict wine law regulations (kbr.be, 2020)

He might have said, in his own (harshly) way, that Gamay wasn’t the right fit for the prestigious Côte d’Or. Or perhaps, he said it because winemakers focused on quantity rather than quality. We can figure out by reading his words (“a huge abundance of wine“).

Either way, Philip II wasn’t aware of the fact that Beaujolais, which is still part of Burgundy, could have been the quintessential territory of Gamay. Here winemakers welcomed the grape variety giving to it a “home” where it won’t ever be defined as “unfaithful“.

Côte d’Or: Regional Appellations Including Gamay

It’s in Beaujolais that the cultivar has been redeemed. It gives life to a dozen of AOC wines of a quality ranging from good to excellent. The 10 Crus of Beaujolais aren’t second to any Pinot Noir from the neighbor Côte d’Or indeed.

But it must be clear that it’s possible to plant Gamay in the Côte d’Or as well. There, it might be used in three AOC wines:

  • Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains. Gamay at 15-70% in blend with Pinot Noir (which has to account for at least 30% of the blend);
  • Coteaux Bourguignons. Wines from this AOC can be 100% Gamay or a blend of it with Pinot Noir at any percentage;
  • Bourgogne Gamay. This AOC must be 100% Gamay;

The regional appellations, which is the “entry-level” of Burgundian wines, account for 50% of its total wine production. They are usually simple basic blends of several wines from grapes within the entire region of Burgundy.

Apart from Beaujolais and Côte d’Or this grape variety can be planted only in another place in France. In the western Loire, where the grape Melon du Bourgogne plays the major role. Here, there are three regions producing it. These are Côte Roannais, Côte du Forez, and Côte d’Auvergne.

Figure 2: Two glasses of deep-colored Gamay still at a young stage of their lives (health.harvard.edu, 2020)

Conclusions

In spite of the bumpy path that Gamay had to walk through, we can definitely say that this grape has found a perfect environment where it could grow and proudly place its roots.

We believe that the reason why many people underrate Gamay (and even Sommeliers!) has something to do with Philip II’s order to banish it from Burgundy. Everyone has been biased since then and the stereotype that Gamay is just a wine to be drunk when young for conviviality is still stuck in people’s minds. But it’s getting a bit old.

Everything changed when this grape variety went to its environment indeed. The “friendly” Beaujolais’s Terroir turner the underrated Gamay into signature wines. Nowadays, French Sommeliers describe its thirst-quenching properties with the word “gouleyant“.

And we are quite confident that the negative adjectives Philip II used in its decree have changed. They should be plenty of positive ones which better describe this fascinating ultra-fruity grape variety.


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