Wine Focus November 2022: Zinfandel & Gamay

[David M. Bueker]

Welcome to November! We have a doubleheader this month that straddles the new and old world. Zinfandel owes almost all its notoriety to wines produced in California, despite its long-ago European heritage. Gamay, once kicked out of Burgundy, eventually staged a dubious comeback as Nouveau Beaujolais, but has since shed some of that image and carved a niche with wine lovers.

Zinfandel has its day on November 16, and we'll "commemorate" Gamay with the release day of Beaujolais Nouveau on the third Thursday, November 17. No requirement to drink Nouveau.

Great to see Gamay having a Focus this month! I have various wines from Niagara including a few Gamay.
Sebastiani was my first Zinfandel in the early 80s, I remember them well. Seems their wines are all downhill these days

We drink lots of Beaujolais and Touraine Gamay, so no problem about contributing for that grape. However, Zinfandel is another matter. It is rare on the shelves here and is usually from a discouragingly down-market source. An organic produce shop in Caen, our nearest sizeable town, used to stock Bonterra priced in the upper € teens. I enjoyed it and thought it fair value at that price but I haven't seen it there now for a couple of years. I guess Primitivo will be allowed as a substitute and I'll continue my quest to find the first one which I really like.

[David M. Bueker]

No need to abuse your tastebuds Tim. Gamay is fine!

[David M. Bueker]

2019 Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie Les Garants - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie (11/3/2022)
Pop and pour. Starts out a little bit reticent, but with thirty minutes it blossoms. Crisp red fruit, floral (yeah, I know) and some warm herbal tones come through, and are backed up by a little bit of finishing earthiness. The best part is the light but persistent texture. Never any trace of heaviness, but it also sustains on the palate. Fantastic showing for this wine, and a good reminder for me to step beyond my Thivin/Roilette bubble.

2019 Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie Les Garants - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie (11/3/2022)
Pop and pour. Starts out a little bit reticent, but with thirty minutes it blossoms. Crisp red fruit, floral (yeah, I know) and some warm herbal tones come through, and are backed up by a little bit of finishing earthiness. The best part is the light but persistent texture. Never any trace of heaviness, but it also sustains on the palate. Fantastic showing for this wine, and a good reminder for me to step beyond my Thivin/Roilette bubble.

I have one bottle left of the 2016 version of this wine. Previous bottles were disappointingly unexpressive, maybe opened in a dumb phase. I hope my last bottle will be more like your 2019.

I have always a soft spot for Chiroubles because a bistrot which I frequented when living in Paris in the 60s offered a delightfully gluggable one. Here is a modern version from the same cru which lives up to my memories.

2020 Domaine de Sermezy Chiroubles Cadole de Grille Midi - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Chiroubles (03/11/2022)
This is a deliciously fragrant and moreish combination of fresh berry fruit with a savoury touch, hints of ivy, flinty minerals and tangy acidity on a medium body. Good+.
Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

Don't see much Chiroubles. Alongside Regnie and Chenas they are the hardest for me to find.

[David M. Bueker]

2019 Elyse Zinfandel Old Vines - USA, California (11/5/2022)
Early days here, and this is a ripe, almost too ripe Zinfandel that needs a little time to calm down. Even a couple of hours open tamed it a bit, as the initially oversweet fruit came into better focus, and the structure throttled things back. It’s not thick, just a bit too exuberant for polite company right now. Hold off for 2-3 years and see where it is then.

Jamie Goode is a fine advocat for Gamay from Ontario and I will be posting on some in the future. Check and scroll down>>https://wineanorak.com/2022/11/01/in-niagara-7-thomas-bachelder-top-pinot-noir-chardonnay-and-gamay-from-canadas-niagara-region/

[Jenise]

Don't see much Chiroubles. Alongside Regnie and Chenas they are the hardest for me to find.

Same here, but is that because there isn't as much available for export or because exporters think Americans only want Fleurie, MAV and Morgon?

[David M. Bueker]

Don't see much Chiroubles. Alongside Regnie and Chenas they are the hardest for me to find.

Same here, but is that because there isn't as much available for export or because exporters think Americans only want Fleurie, MAV and Morgon?

Some of the more "prestigious" producers (e.g., Thivin, Roilette, Foillard, etc.) don't even make those crus.

[David M. Bueker]

Just got a Kermit Lynch promotional email, and the offer includes a Regnie.

Also discovered that I have two Chiroubles downstairs. Thought I had drunk them up. Will open one soon.

Descombes makes a nice Regnie. Not sure I've had others.

[David M. Bueker]

2021 Bedrock Wine Co. Old Vine Zinfandel - USA, California (11/9/2022)
More linear, fresher, brighter than the last couple of editions of Bedrock OVZ. Given the vintage conditions that’s surprising, but wine can do that. Fruit is more in the fresh raspberry vein, with the green herb and spice in supporting roles. Each sip compels the next. Magnums make sense, but are also a very dangerous idea.

Had an evening meeting so quickly looked for a glass of bubbly at a local winebar.

13th Street Winery 2019 Gamay Blanc de Noir, Niagara Ont.

Thought this is my lucky day! Think it is around $40 Cda on the shelf if one can find it. Fine bubbles, raspberry, cherry, almonds on the nose. Very attractive. Mouse is fresh persistent, berries and doughy.
Noted some minerality with crisp acidity. Very good length, thought cherry dominates. Some may think a tad pricey but I enjoyed it. Now to look for the regular Gamay.

[Jenise]

Opened this last night:

2021 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) L'Ancien Beaujolais
Obvious good quality and structure, but too young (grapey) for current drinking and my tastes. Wait a year.

Gamay is the Focus Jenise..

[Jenise]

I know. I thought it was gamay. I see I selected something else on CT. Will double-check.

Meanwhile, last night I invented a new dish. You've all had French Onion Soup, well I'll call this French Onion Toast. 1" thick slices of a wide rustic French loaf were pan toasted, smothered in freshly made onion soup that was mostly onions and only a little broth, topped with cheese, broiled and then garnished with a chopped tomato salad. THAT dish and THIS next wine, a 2015 Gary Farrel Grist Mill Vineyard zinfandel, were a match made in heaven.

PnP'd, and it was ready for it (prior bottles had not been). Big dark black raspberry and boysenberry fruit with a touch of zin bramble, claret-like structure with fine grained tannins, good finish. At 7 years old no signs of age other than to have arrived at this point after years of holding back. And it has a future: sticking with my original "drink latest" at 2030.

2021 Integro Primitivo Vino Biologico - Organic wine Puglia IGT - Italy, Puglia, Puglia IGT (12/11/2022)
This bottle did nothing to improve my enthusiasm for this wine type, reputedly from the same grape as Californian Zinfandel. This one showed medium+ body, slight sweetness, a certain amount of red fruit and spice, a rather thick oily texture together with fair acidity and structure. I live in hope of finding an Italian version which holds a candle to the less overblown examples from California. Only fair.
Posted from CellarTracker

[Jenise]

Gamay is the Focus Jenise..

Have confirmed that my bottle was the L'Ancien Beaujolais. Will correct my note.

Gamay is the Focus Jenise..

Have confirmed that my bottle was the L'Ancien Beaujolais. Will correct my note.

Brun does produce a Pinot Noir. I recall that, when he was presenting his excellent range in Belgium, he was quite vocal in regretting that his distributor there did not wish to offer it, fearing a lack of credibility for PN from his region. I would be curious to know how it performs. A French web seller offers it for c.€16, which is a quite reasonable price for that prestigious grape, if it is good.

[David M. Bueker]

And don’t miss out on Brun’s fun sparkler, FRV100.

[Jenise]

Brun does produce a Pinot Noir. I recall that, when he was presenting his excellent range in Belgium, he was quite vocal in regretting that his distributor there did not wish to offer it

Not sure I've ever seen it. I am fairly sure, though, that I wouldn't have mistaken our bottle for pinot, it was gamay all the way.

[David M. Bueker]

1997 Ravenswood Zinfandel Dickerson - USA, California, Napa Valley (11/13/2022)
From the Once & Future Ravenswood library sale, this was still clearly a wine from the late 1990s, higher acid Ravenswood mold. Everything about it was bright, from the tart cherry fruit through the dusty, herb inflected finish. It needed food to tame the electricity, and rich food at that. Sadly I was grilling chicken. Air time helped a bit, but it was ultimately a bit rough to get through. I remember struggling with the acidity of some of the late 1990s Ravenswood wines, and this one hit me the same way.