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august WINE OF THE MONTH
2021 La Mesa Vineyards Gamay Noir
If you’re looking for something new in your wine-drinking rotation, a wine that breaks you out of the rut of the same 2-3 varietals you normally pour, then we recommend the 2021 La Mesa Vineyards Gamay Noir. It is our August wine of the month.
For many of us the only time we drink Gamay is with Thanksgiving dinner but we may not have even known that’s what we were drinking. The home for Gamay is Beaujolais, the sixth district of Burgundy. Labeling of wine in France typically is of the region where the grape grows, not the varietal itself. When we pour a bottle of Beaujolais we just need to know that this is a bottle of Gamay.
Gamay (formally Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc) is a black grape that grows well in moderate climate and has high acidity and low to medium tannins. It shows red fruits like raspberry, red cherry, red plum, and strawberry. It is typically light bodied and unoaked and is made for early drinking.
While rare, it is possible to find great Gamay in California. La Mesa Vineyards is the only grower of Gamay in Amador County. The red, granitic soil conditions in their vineyards are very similar to those found in the Northern part of Beaujolais and Northern Rhône.
Côme Laguë, La Mesa’s owner and vigneron, recommends his Gamay chilled. It’s a bright, fresh, radical summer wine done the traditional unoaked Beaujolais style—carbonic maceration for about 3 weeks in sealed tanks. It’s one of the rare wines that if you only got to smell it you would still be satisfied: think Smucker’s strawberry preserves. This wine will thrill your taste buds as well.
Côme obtained the Gamay cuttings from El Dorado County’s famous Barsotti Vineyard and grafted the clone to La Mesa’s lower hillside block in 2020. It successfully took hold and produced a bumper crop in 2021. We, as consumers, are the lucky beneficiaries.
We served the La Mesa Gamay Noir with a whimsical Thanksgiving sandwich food board in July and the pairing was heavenly.
At $39 the 2021 La Mesa Vineyards Gamay Noir provides a tasty, refreshing experience that is outside the normal routine. This combination of value and excellence makes it our August wine of the month.
Purchase yours and follow La Mesa Vineyards here:
https://lamesavineyards.com/collections/reds/products/gamay-noir-2021
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