Red grape
Gamay
A red grape best known for juicy fruit, high drinkability and its close association with Beaujolais, including carbonic and semi-carbonic techniques.
Where it grows
Most closely associated with cool to moderate sites where acidity and fresh fruit can be retained.
What it usually feels like
Think of this as the grape’s default setting, not its destiny. Change the climate, the vintage or what happens in the winery and it can turn into a rather different beast.
Acidity
Medium to high
How fresh, tart or mouth-watering the wine tends to feel.
Tannin / grip
Low
Drying grip from skins and seeds. Usually very low in conventionally made white wines.
Body
Light to medium
How light, rounded or weighty the wine feels in the mouth.
Aroma intensity
Moderate to high
How strongly the wine tends to smell before you even taste it.
What tends to turn up in the glass
No, nobody put any of that in it.
Wine people use fruit, herbs, flowers and spice as shorthand because saying “it tastes like itself” is not terribly helpful. These are the clues that crop up most often; place, ripeness and winemaking decide which ones shout and which merely wave from the back.
Then the winemaker gets involved
Same grape. Different decisions. Quite a different drink.
Once the grapes reach the winery, the choices start piling up. Steel can keep things brisk, skin contact adds grip, lees can broaden the texture and oak can change the whole mood. None is automatically better — they simply pull the wine in different directions.
Carbonic maceration
A useful trick for making fruit feel vivid, juicy and immediate, while keeping tannin on a shorter leash.
Semi-carbonic maceration
A useful trick for making fruit feel vivid, juicy and immediate, while keeping tannin on a shorter leash.
Conventional skin fermentation
Change the fermentation and you can change the fruit, texture, tannin and general mood of the wine surprisingly quickly.
Now put it next to something else.
Wine makes far more sense side by side. Try this grape against something similar and the differences suddenly stop being theory — more acidity here, more perfume there, perhaps a bit more weight or considerably less restraint.
Compare with
Pinot Noir
A thin-skinned red grape associated with perfume, fresh acidity and relatively light colour, but capable of substantial complexity and ageing.
Open grape
Compare with
Grenache
A late-ripening grape that often combines generous red fruit, relatively modest colour and tannin, and potentially high alcohol.
Open grape
Compare with
Sangiovese
Italy’s most important red grape by cultural reach, usually marked by bright acidity, red-fruit character and a savoury edge.
Open grape