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G A M A Y


The famous grape of Beaujolais. It is traditionally mass-produced inthe maceration carbonique style of vinification. These are wines that shouldbe drunk very young and very fresh although vinified wines from Beaujolaisnine classic crus can be aged like other red wines and, after 10 or 15 years,will develop Pinot noir varietal traits. This may just be a phenomenon or,as some believe occur because the grape is possibly the result of an ancientnatural clone of the Pinot noir. In France, the synonym Gamay Beaujolaisis used for the true Gamay but in California it is the synonym of the Pinotnoir. As Leon Adams notes in "The Wines of America", this erroneousAmerican synonym arose out of genuine confusion when Paul Masson broughtback to his winery several Burgundian grapes, one of which he honestly believedto be the Gamay of Beaujolais. It was positively identified as the Pinotnoir in the mid-1960s, but by this time several Californian wineries wereselling their own brand of Gamay Beaujolais. Before its true identity wasrevealed another grape - the Napa gamay - that had been cultivated in Californiafor some time, was identified as the true Gamay.
Synonyms: Blaufrankisch, Borgogna crna, Bourgvignon noir, Frankinjacrna, Frankinja modra, Gaamez, Gamay Beaujolais, Gamay noir, Gamay noira jus blanc, Gamay rond, Kekfrankos, Limberger, Napa gamay, Petit gamai,Garnay teinturiers, Gamay freaux, Gamay de bouze, Gamay de chaudenay, GamayCastille, Gamay teinturier mouro, Freaux hatif