By Joanne Sasvari
The light-bodied, fruit-forward red is the perfect partner for your favourite fall dishes. Why aren’t we drinking more of it?

Back in 1395, the Duke of Burgundy banned Gamay from his lands for being “despicable and disloyal” as opposed to his beloved Pinot Noir. The grape has never quite recovered.
I mean, when’s the last time you ordered Gamay at a restaurant, or even found it on the wine list? Yet Gamay is one of the most delicious, easygoing and food-friendly red grapes out there, one that gets along with charcuterie, spicy foods and game meats alike. It also (usually) thrives in B.C.’s climate, which is more than you can say for Cabernet Sauvignon.
It is, to be sure, a bit of an oddball, a black-skinned grape that produces white juice and results in red wine. (Its full name, fittingly, is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc.) When it first emerged after the Black Death ravaged 14th-century Burgundy, it was considered a wine of good omen, in part because it is easier to cultivate than the region’s finicky Pinot Noir, ripening earlier and yielding more wine. But after Duke Philip the Bold banned it, Gamay was relegated to the southern part of the region, to Beaujolais, where it has found a happy home in the granite-strewn soil.
It is, to be sure, a bit of an oddball, a black-skinned grape that produces white juice and results in red wine.
Winemakers and sommeliers love it. Gamay is gorgeously fragrant, with mouthwatering acidity and soft, well-integrated tannins. It typically bursts with juicy red fruit flavours — think sour cherries, raspberries, red currants, red plums — but can also have lovely floral aromas and appetizing savoury notes of thyme, tarragon and earth. Though it is at times dismissed as lightweight plonk (thanks in part to the hype around the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau), quality Gamay, especially from the 10 Crus of Beaujolais, can age beautifully. (Last fall, The Courtney Room hosted a Beaujolais dinner that showed just how elegant and versatile this wine can be; if they do it again, don’t miss it.)
Gamay is a grape that works well in blends, rosé and bubbles and, thanks to its forgiving nature, we’re seeing a number of experimental, low-intervention bottlings, too. It is delightful served slightly chilled. And because of its high acidity and soft tannins, it pairs well with an astonishing array of foods, including many that don’t typically go well with red wines at all, like salty charcuterie and spicy curries. Among them: every component of your Thanksgiving dinner.
Gamay can also grow well in marginal climates like Canada’s, which makes it even more surprising that more of it isn’t grown here. The tiny amount planted on Vancouver Island seems to disappear in blends and bubbles. We can only hope that one day some enterprising winery brings the same zeal to Gamay that we’re seeing now for Chardonnay.
Meanwhile, we’re happy to enjoy Gamay from the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys and, well, anywhere, any time we can.
For a DIY Charcuterie to go with your bottle (or two) of Gamay: DIY Charcuterie
5 to Try
You can easily find several delicious Gamays from Beaujolais at private and government liquor stores, and you’ll be delighted by the price, which is substantially lower than wines from other parts of Burgundy. (If you can’t resist the Beaujolais Nouveau, mark November 21, the third Thursday in November, in your calendar for this year’s release.)
But you can also find a handful of terrific Gamay wines grown right here in British Columbia. Here are five B.C. wineries that make Gamay we love.
Blue Mountain Gamay Noir

This Okanagan Falls family winery has some of the oldest vitis vinifera vines in the B.C., with Gamay that ranges from 12 to more than 30 years old. They produce gorgeous, bright, juicy red fruit flavours, with lush currant notes against a satisfyingly savoury background, a touch of minerality and even a hint of salinity. Complex, yet super drinkable.
Haywire Gamay
Over in Summerland, Haywire makes wines with loads of personality and little intervention, wresting the taste of the terroir from the soil of the organic Switchback vineyard. You’ll find lots of ripe raspberry, plum and blackcurrant here, with hints of floral, mineral and smoky notes.

Orofino Vineyards PTG or Sparkling Gamay

We love whatever John Weber is making at this Similkameen winery, especially when he plays with Gamay. In the past, he’s developed a following for single-variety Gamay, but the grape has been hard hit by the cold events of the last couple of years, especially in the Similkameen. As of writing, Orofno was offering a spicy, juicy, super-quaffable Pinot Noir/Gamay co-ferment, as well as a Lambrusco-style sparkling Gamay, perfect for aperitivo hour.
Rust Wine Co. Lazy River Vineyard Gamay 2019
In France, they call light, fresh drinkable reds “glou-glou,” a term that mimics the sound of the wine glugging into your glass. The Rust Gamay is eminently glou-glou. It hails from the desert-like Lazy River Vineyard in Cawston, which produces flavours of tart but ripe cherries and raspberries with a hint of tobacco and black pepper spice.

Lunessence Winery Gamay

What a pretty and interesting wine this is! Harvested from the Summerland lakefront, wild-fermented and aged nine months in neutral French oak, it’s surprisingly bold and opulent for this light-bodied grape, with notes of black cherry and just a hint of vanilla and cedar.