Inniskillen Gamay Noir

WINE TALK
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I popped into a local wine shop today and they’d got a load of older wines they were selling cheaply from a house cellar clearance. I picked up a few things with a 1975 Monte Real Gran Reserva rioja the one that jumped out at me. All £5 each :astonished: but understandably with a caveat that it might be good or not.

Anyway, the chap I was chatting to grabbed a curio to show me, a 1982 Iniiskillen Gamay noir. Level looked very good and ditto the colour. My gut feel was it might well be an interesting (if faded) bottle. I didn’t get it, but figured I would share the discovery here to see whether you agree with my hunch.

I’ve also a vague recollection that what was labelled as Gamay Noir in this era, was often a different grape - Am I misremembering that?

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So it sounds like this bottle was a wine from Inniskillin, located near me here in Niagara, Canada. What an odd thing to end up in the UK. Ontario wines with that kind of age don’t really even exist here. I’ve seen some library wines going back to the 2000s and 1990s, but never anything older.

Inniskillin made its name as an Icewine pioneer. I have tasted the odd bottle of dry red and white from them I’ve enjoyed and found well made, but they also today make a lot of cheap, mass produced stuff available at grocery stores. I believe during that time period they would be smaller, family run, and perhaps more quality focused. They’re now owned by one of the large liquor conglomerates. Overall Niagara reds during this time period are generally known to not have been of high quality. People will say they were trying to find their footing with a focus on hybrid varieties that were winter hardy, and not on european vinifera.

There are plenty of plantings of true Gamay here. Some are particular clones, but in my experience everything I’ve tasted and discussed with winemakers has been true Gamay. Of course I’ve only been following for about 13 years now, and the oldest Niagara wines I’ve tasted have been from the early 90s. Hard to say if during this time period there was a practice of labelling something different than Gamay, Gamay. I’m also unsure of what the oldest plantings of Gamay in Ontario are, but I did find this source which indicates that Inniskillin did in fact plant Gamay in 1975 along with Riesling and Chardonnay.

I’d definitely try it for 5 quid. At the very least an interesting experiment. But I also love odd and old wine.

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A fascinating gamble, but a gamble for all the obvious reasons. Not least of which would be provenance given the location.

I’d love to hear how it turns out.

I vaguely recall at least one Niagara winery making wine from a clone , Gamay Droit but not sure when that started or its origin.

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Many thanks Chris - wonderful info and yes indeed it is the Canadian company.

I think my recollection must have been about Napa gamay being something different than Bojo’s gamay (at least going back in time)

Like you, I do enjoy old (and indeed odd/unusual) wine, and over the years I’ve had some wonderful and some dud old wines (and everywhere inbetween), not as closely correlated to price as we’d anticipate.

As I was on foot, already with a couple of bags of shopping, carrying space was limited, so I just got the 5 bottles. For the record they were the Monte Real mentioned up top plus a
2008 Castello Montedoro Castel del Monte (Apulian, probably Nero di Troia grape)
1982 Crozes-Hermitage Meffre
? Crozes Hermitage P.A. Andre Vignolan. Certainly some age on it as it’s a 73cl bottle. Looking at CT, the closest I see in name is Andre Passat, so that’s what it’s gone into CT as, but who knows!
2001 Dao Reserva from a producer I couldn’t decipher, but I’m going with the same logic as an earlier CT user, who reckons the Villa nova de Gaia (VN de Gaia) is the producer.

I might see if I can squeeze in a visit tomorrow for a 2nd dip into the selection. As you say, if a wine still has colour and a decent fill, many would be worth a £5 punt.

Other stuff I recall seeing included some clarets (one from a decent chateau, but 1984 discouraged me); some 1988 Guigal CdR (which absolutely tempts me - it used to be such a solid budget label); plenty more Crozes Hermitage (I recall some 1991s) and even a C9dP, though despite a decent fill, it did look rather brown in the bottle. If they do have any of the Bandol left, then I’d be all over that, and ditto any of the Saumer-Champigny Cab Francs.

They did pick a relatively light number of cherries out to sell at proper prices - some 1980s Penfolds Grange, 1960s Port and some older Ch. Musars. I think I would have enjoyed drinking wine with that gentleman, given his somewhat eclectic tastes

It’s also a good reminder to all of us to ‘drink those wines’.

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Very fun stuff. I always enjoy those dumpster dives, and totally agree with your sentiment. You get duds, and you can get some wonderful wines, and yes, not quite as correlated to price as you’d expect. For sure.

Hope you score some more and report back.

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Not sure about the Inniskillin but have a 2005 Riesling Icewine gifted to me eons ago that is still nestled in a filler-space in my home refrigerator. Canadian friend said it should still be good (although I don’t think he’s that much of a wine drinker, anyway).

Btw, 5GBP for a 1970s Monte Real GR is such an awesome deal, even if only 2 out of 10 are in good drinking shape.

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I’ve visited that AVA (Niagara Bench) many times and can attest that they do make good Gamay and Cab Franc. While I think Chardonnay is where the region really shines, I have about half a case of Gamay from Bachelder that I have no doubt will age well.

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Almost anything Thomas makes is good or excellent.

Agree about Chardonnay, it’s now very credible on the international stage with its own character. I’m not yet sure about Ganay, I haven’t tasted enough, but I also agree about Cab Franc (Stratus, Tawse, Ravine, Morissette for example).

The puzzle for me is Riesling (regular, not ice wine), which many seem to rave over but I don’t find compelling. .

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Completely agree on Riesling. Tried many Rieslings from Cave Spring and Megalomaniac (supposedly two of the best) and didn’t find anything that compares to any of my favorites. I think it is the limestone soil?

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The VQA ( Vintners Quality Alliance) which allows for significant tax reductions on the wine being sold in Ontario mandate a certain typicity. So a Riesling has to “taste of Ontario” to get a VQA designation. It also means they all taste similar and boring.

One of the best or at least most interesting Ontario Riesling is pearl Morrissette’s black ball which is black balled from the VQA because it doesn’t taste like Ontario Riesling should. It’s a wild, natural Alsatian-esque wine and very fun and nice.

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I will have to try that. I even find the highly touted Charles Baker is maybe over rated. The $25 Hidden Bench is a decent unpretentious luncheon wine albeit over priced like all Ontario wine.

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I often feel that when I buy Morissette wines I should buy a lottery ticket at the same time as a sort of hedge. Some great wines and a few where I go “wtf”? If the wines a miss the ticket may be a winner! His wines are always interesting.

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I’ve had dinner at Pearl Morissette at least once a year since they’ve opened, and the wine is much more consistent now. Again though, it is their Chard that I love.