Wines made from Gamay noir grapes of Balaton
Discover the best wines made with Gamay noir as a single variety or as a blend of Balaton.
Gamay is a Burgundian grape variety that has existed since the 14th century. For fear of competition with the pinot noir of Burgundy, gamay was finally uprooted and planted in the Beaujolais region, from Mâcon to Lyon. These siliceous and granitic soils suit it perfectly, and it gives its best here. But it is also planted all over France, such as in Lorraine, in the Loire Valley, in Bugey, in Savoie and in Auvergne. Gamay is early and very productive and needs to be limited so that quality prevails over quantity. Short winter pruning of the shoots and high density of vines per hectare are the methods that allow it to produce very fruity, fresh and greedy red wines. Gamay is also very popular in red wine futures, and produces wines from the Beaujolais region with very interesting character and ageing potential. The AOCs Crémant-de-Bourgogne, Mâcon, Anjou, Touraine, Rosé de vallée de la Loire, Côtes-d'Auvergne, Saint-Pourçain, Bugey, Gaillac, Côtes du Luberon... and many vins de pays are proud of it. Today, about 36,000 hectares of Gamay are cultivated in France, including 22,000 hectares in Beaujolais.
Balatonboglar (South Balaton) is one of several wine regions on the shores of Lake Balaton, in the Transdanubia region of western Hungary. Lake Balaton is a Long, thin freshwater lake measuring almost 80 kilometers (50 miles) in Length, sometimes referred to as the 'Hungarian Sea. ' It is the largest lake in Central Europe and Hungary's most popular tourist destination. A wide portfolio of the popular, internationally recognized Grape varieties are grown here, including a number of the French classics.
I’m fortunate enough to taste a fair amount of fine wine each year and I have come to the conclusion that each of us is forced to build our own stylistic preferences, regardless of the appellation or classification of a wine. Instead of simply choosing a bottle of Bordeaux over Barolo, for example, most of us probably aim to drink each on the right occasion and, in doing so, carve out our individual preferences for these wines. My personal bias – which I must confess, to be fair and transp ...
‘When I started producing wine, the wineries were all in a very bad condition,’ said Askaneli Brothers president Gocha Chkhaidze, recalling the poor state of the Georgian wine industry shortly after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. ‘There was inadequate sanitation, a lack of know-how and old-fashioned bottling lines. People were unable to make wine sustainably, vineyards were not sufficiently cared for, agronomists were unskilled and used to harvest the maximu ...
As a wine critic, witnessing a relatively unknown estate rise up and receive the recognition it deserves can be a bittersweet feeling. From a purely selfish point of view, you watch the prices rise inexorably so you can no longer afford to drink wines from that estate as often as you once did. But primarily you’re delighted for the owners and for those who have discovered their wines. Scroll down for Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for five vintages of Domaine Gonon St-Joseph {"c ...