Omero Cellars Gamay Noir (out of Willamette Valley). My local wine shop suggested trying this alongside the Lapierre Morgon, which wound up being a pretty fun comparison (the Morgon was still better, but not by a whole lot).
I’m not a huge fan of Evening Land Gamay Noir, but it has good reviews on Cellartracker. For the same money ($30-35), there’s so much Cru Beaujolais that plain outperforms it.
My favorite hands down is Joile-Laide.
This is where I fall. If I can get Roilette and Thivin for less it seems absurd to buy the American versions. Maybe that will change with time. I’ll also have an Oregon pinot noir in the mix, so there will be American representation amongst the Beaujolais and Champagne.
Totally forgot about Story of Soil. I’ve only tried it once in their tasting room but liked every one of the wines they showed me. Good new producer to keep your eyes on.
As to US v French versions, I don’t have a prejudice one way or another. In some cases the Europeans in many countries can put a product on the shelf more cheaply than a lot of American producers. That’s been discussed before. But when the price is competitive I like to try new things. No idea why and I’m sure there’s some name for it but for some reason I almost feel compelled to take the Mae West approach to wines when given a choice. And since there just isn’t a lot of US made Gamay on the market, if it’s a new producer to me, I’d go for it over a French one. Same with any other grape or blend though. And as I’m a Gamay fan, I’m happy to see more of it showing up. As Wes points out, it’s not following some dumb trend sparked by a movie, it’s people who think they can make pretty good wine, which is nice.
A couple of others to check out from Santa Barbara County:
Pence makes one from estate fruit
Whitcraft makes one occasionally from Pence fruit
Martian used to make one from their own estate fruit (no longer producing wine)
Story of Soil (as others have mentioned)
My guess is that others are working with Martian fruit - just not sure who (perhaps LoFi?)
As others have said, there’s lots of inexpensive quality Gamay from across the pond, so domestic producers really should be more ‘price conscious’ than I see them being. Just my $.02.
Cheers.
Martin Woods and Edmunds St John are probably making the best ones I’ve had. I think there’s better Beaujolais for the same price or less, though.
Just curious what wine making methods are used with Gamay in the US.
See post 11 for how the Jolie Laide Gamay was made.
My wife and I probably go through 3+ cases of Cru Bojo per year. Decent amount for 2 people, rarely more than 3 - 4 bottles of the same wine. There’s a 2017 Descombes Regnie open in the fridge right now. The majority is priced $18 - $30 and frequently offers more complexity IMHO than US versions. Which is in no way saying that the US producers aren’t good. It’s increasingly tricky to distinguish old/new world in a blind tasting…let alone confidently ID the variety. The French producers make lots of old vine wines which I find adds interest. YMMV.
RT
Keep the suggestions coming. I’ll update the list soon.
Thanks all
The majority is priced $18 - $30 and frequently offers more complexity IMHO than US versions. Which is in no way saying that the US producers aren’t good. It’s increasingly tricky to distinguish old/new world in a blind tasting…let alone confidently ID the variety.
That’s fair. But people are working on it. And you’re dead right that it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish new vs old world. There are just lots of different styles that people are working with and as they continue to experiment on both sides of the ocean, I think it will become even more difficult.
Forgot to mention one that was quite nice - Wind Gap. Very much in line with his other wines, on the lean side. Light colored in the glass. Tart and tasty. I don’t know but assume that since he’s now making the wines under the Pax label, he’s still going to make that Gamay Noir.
I have to say that I really enjoyed your 2015 Oregon drunk last Saturday night. The best Gamay I’ve drunk so far this year. Though as people say, it’s a bit pricey. $38.00. For a magnum. ![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
Preach brother
Ha nice! Glad to hear it.
As I’m aware, many producers in the US use partial or full carbonic maceration in making their Gamay.
I do not, instead I ferment it naturally in open top fermenters with 30-50% whole clusters, sometimes more. My goal is to trade a bit of the fruit you’d preserve with carbonic maceration for more savory qualities that you might get from traditional open top fermentation, with approx 3 week maceration on the skins. I then age the wine for about a year in older barrels, bottling without filtration or fining.
Ultimately there are a variety of ways people are making Gamay in North America and I’m excited to see more and more people interested in the grape.
Man, I got to try that Vincent.
Sheldrake Point Finger Lakes. Theirs goes through malolactic and is usually very pale in color. Over the past few years they have really begun to dial it in. Great price too.
What is bojo and where can I find it?
Yes you do… Had a 17 earlier in the week and it was quite snappy, in a good way.
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