A comparison of two American Gamays
 

Over the weekend, Jean and I decided to do a comparative tasting of two
of our favorite domestic Gamays, Edmmunds St. John Bone-Jolly from the
Sierra Foothills of CA and Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay from the Old
Mission Peninsula of MI.

2017 Edmunds St. John Gamay Noir Bone-Jolly (El Dorado County) started
out with a bouquet of strawberries and a light mouthfeel that I would
have judged to be from a rose had I tasted it blind. With some time in
the air, however, the wine took on weight and the fruit darkened to more
of dark cherry character. Throughout, it had enough acidity for a sense
of freshness and it has the balance to develop (under screwcap) for a
few years.

2017 Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir "Limited Release" (Old Mission
Peninsula) is bottled under cork and started out of the gates as a
darker and heavier wine than the Bone Jolly, but still is light on its
feet and of medium-light body. Not quite as acidic as the Bone-Jolly,
it still was in no danger of being considered soft. Plenty of dark
cherryish fruit promises at least a couple more years of life to this wine.

In the end, the similarities of the two wines far outweighed any
differences. The Bone-Jolly is lighter in color and a bit lighter on
the palate and may also outlive the Grand Traverse. Both were utterly
delicious and a nice accompaniment to roast d'Artagnan pheasant with
risotto and asparagus (I had water with the asparagus).

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: RIP cwdjrx

A comparison of two American Gamays
 

On 2019-04-08 11:10 a.m., Mark Lipton wrote:
> Over the weekend, Jean and I decided to do a comparative tasting of two
> of our favorite domestic Gamays, Edmmunds St. John Bone-Jolly from the
> Sierra Foothills of CA and Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay from the Old
> Mission Peninsula of MI.
>
> 2017 Edmunds St. John Gamay Noir Bone-Jolly (El Dorado County) started
> out with a bouquet of strawberries and a light mouthfeel that I would
> have judged to be from a rose had I tasted it blind. With some time in
> the air, however, the wine took on weight and the fruit darkened to more
> of dark cherry character. Throughout, it had enough acidity for a sense
> of freshness and it has the balance to develop (under screwcap) for a
> few years.
>
> 2017 Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir "Limited Release" (Old Mission
> Peninsula) is bottled under cork and started out of the gates as a
> darker and heavier wine than the Bone Jolly, but still is light on its
> feet and of medium-light body. Not quite as acidic as the Bone-Jolly,
> it still was in no danger of being considered soft. Plenty of dark
> cherryish fruit promises at least a couple more years of life to this wine.
>
> In the end, the similarities of the two wines far outweighed any
> differences. The Bone-Jolly is lighter in color and a bit lighter on
> the palate and may also outlive the Grand Traverse. Both were utterly
> delicious and a nice accompaniment to roast d'Artagnan pheasant with
> risotto and asparagus (I had water with the asparagus).
>
> Mark Lipton
>
If you can get BC wines from the Okanagan Valley, you should look out
for Blue Mountain Gamay, which Stephen Spurrier, in Decanter, declared
was the best one he'd tried outside the Beaujolais region.
Their PN is also excellent.

A comparison of two American Gamays
 

On 4/8/19 1:35 PM, graham wrote:
> If you can get BC wines from the Okanagan Valley, you should look out
> for Blue Mountain Gamay, which Stephen Spurrier, in Decanter, declared
> was the best one he'd tried outside the Beaujolais region.
> Their PN is also excellent.

Ah, what does Stephen Spurrier know? :P Alas, I don't see wines from
the Okanagan Valley anywhere that I shop. Years ago, my mother came
back from a trip to BC raving about the wines of the Okanagan, but they
just don't seem to make it down here (perhaps because of limited
quantities).

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: RIP cwdjrx

A comparison of two American Gamays
 

On Monday, April 8, 2019 at 1:10:35 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
> Over the weekend, Jean and I decided to do a comparative tasting of two
> of our favorite domestic Gamays, Edmmunds St. John Bone-Jolly from the
> Sierra Foothills of CA and Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay from the Old
> Mission Peninsula of MI.
>
> 2017 Edmunds St. John Gamay Noir Bone-Jolly (El Dorado County) started
> out with a bouquet of strawberries and a light mouthfeel that I would
> have judged to be from a rose had I tasted it blind. With some time in
> the air, however, the wine took on weight and the fruit darkened to more
> of dark cherry character. Throughout, it had enough acidity for a sense
> of freshness and it has the balance to develop (under screwcap) for a
> few years.
>
> 2017 Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir "Limited Release" (Old Mission
> Peninsula) is bottled under cork and started out of the gates as a
> darker and heavier wine than the Bone Jolly, but still is light on its
> feet and of medium-light body. Not quite as acidic as the Bone-Jolly,
> it still was in no danger of being considered soft. Plenty of dark
> cherryish fruit promises at least a couple more years of life to this wine.
>
> In the end, the similarities of the two wines far outweighed any
> differences. The Bone-Jolly is lighter in color and a bit lighter on
> the palate and may also outlive the Grand Traverse. Both were utterly
> delicious and a nice accompaniment to roast d'Artagnan pheasant with
> risotto and asparagus (I had water with the asparagus).
>
Thanks for notes, both (and the pheasant sound great). WSearcher actually shows the MI wine at a shop across the river from me, I may stop in when I'm in Rockland in couple weeks. The ESJ I alreafy have!

A comparison of two American Gamays
 

On 4/8/19 9:37 PM, DaleW wrote:

> Thanks for notes, both (and the pheasant sound great). WSearcher actually shows the MI wine at a shop across the river from me, I may stop in when I'm in Rockland in couple weeks. The ESJ I alreafy have!
>

I'll be interested to hear your impressions. I should have mentioned
that both of these wines resemble each other far more closely than they
do any Cru Beaujolais I can think of. The fruit profile is quite
distinct. Dare I say that they display some American terroir?

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

A comparison of two American Gamays
 

On Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at 1:42:31 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
to hear your impressions. I should have mentioned
> that both of these wines resemble each other far more closely than they
> do any Cru Beaujolais I can think of. The fruit profile is quite
> distinct. Dare I say that they display some American terroir?
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> al

I hope they display some terroir! I agree the ESJ is it's own thing, not very Beaujolaisish, but that's a good thing!