From: Bugey, Savoie, France
Varietal: Gamay
Taste: Bursting with spicy red fruit and soft tannins and showcasing vibrant notes of baking spices and a touch of alpine sweet green herbs on the nose and palate. Its fruit profile leans into freshly picked raspberries, Bing cherries, and wild sour cherries, offering an incredibly refreshing and satisfying experience. Chill & chug!!!
Pairing: Gamay’s mellow fruity flavors make it a rare red wine equally capable of pairing with delicate dishes like fish, and salty, caramelized foods like roasted poultry, and aged cheeses. Gamay is a good wine choice for Thanksgiving in particular: An echo of its strengths are already on the table with roasted turkey and cranberry sauce (check out the Thanksgiving-inspired recipe below).
Roast chicken: Salty, crackly roast chicken skin and savory pan juices meet a high, clarifying note of fruit, with just enough acidity to revive the palate.
Charcuterie and rich, complex cheese: Both charcuterie and Gamay are good entry points for an evening: Gamay comes across as gentle and interesting while cutting right through all the cream and fat on the board.
Grilled fish: The added hint of smoke and char on a grilled fish pulls out the deeper musky floral notes of some Gamays. The lighter-bodied wine won’t interrupt the nuances of the fish; it’s less aggressively tart than an Albariño or sauvignon blanc, and more defined than a Chardonnay.
Miso Gravy-Smothered Green Beans
By Kay Chun
About. Maison Angelot is run by the brothers Eric and Philippe Angelot. Their 57 acres of vineyards are divided into about 20 different parcels, some hillside and others along the valley floor.
The white grapes Aligote, Chardonnay, Roussette, Altesse, Molette and Jacquere are planted around the town. For reds, Mondeuse, Poulsard, Pinot Noir and Gamay grapes come from some of the property's oldest vines.
Yields for the Gamay average about 55 hl/ha, while the vines themselves are 25-30 years old. The grapes are approximately 80% destemmed. The juice is converted into wine through carbonic maceration in temperature-controlled fiberglass tanks over the course of 6 days, and the caps are punched down twice a day. The result is a wine that is totally slurp-able.
Bugey: The French Wine Region You’ve Overlooked
It’s home to serious whites, reds, rosés, and sparklers.
by Kate Soto
