There’s not a lot of Gamay in New Zealand, but it seems to have some promise here. The most well known example is the soild Te Mata Gamay, but there are two excellent examples from Central Otago, too (Mount Edward and Rippon). This is the latest one I’ve come across, made by Rod Easthope (formerly of Craggy Range) from Hawkes’ Bay fruit. It’s made under his own label ( https://www.easthope.co.nz  ) with his winemaker wife Emma. The grapes come from and old  block planted in Hawke’s Bay over 15 years ago that had been forgotten about, and was just being blended into a larger planting of Malbec. So Rod managed to get his hands on these rows of Gamay, and the result is this wine.

I was given it to try by Ian Quinn, a neighbour of Rod’s, who is a grower with 10 hectares that will soon come into production. This vineyard, named Two Terraces, consists of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Gamay Noir and a bit of Syrah. Ian is currently debating whether or not to plant more Gamay. I urged him to go for it!

Easthope Family Winegrowers Gamay Noir 2015 Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
13.5% alcohol. From a single site in the Maraekakaho, this is whole bunch fermented and then aged in old oak for nine months. Intense and quite powerful with a subtle green herby, slightly earthy edge to the textured raspberry and black cherry fruit. It’s such an interesting wine, with lovely concentration and fine-grained tannins, and a distinctive earthy quality from the whole bunch fermentation. The fruit has a lovely weight to it. Fresh and lively with good acidity and some grippy structure. 93/100

Find this wine with wine-searcher.com

• Gamay 1 – RPM Gamay Noir California
• Gamay 2 – Domaine Metrat Chiroubles ‘La Scandaleuse’
• Gamay 3 – Orofino, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
• Gamay 4 – Julien Sunier Fleurie
• Gamay 5- Radford Dale Thirst Gamay, South Africa
• Gamay 6 – Louis Claude Desvignes Morgon Javernières ‘Les Impénitents’
• Gamay 7 – Hauts de Chasselay, Coteaux du Lyonnais
• Gamay 8 – Serol Les Originelles, Cote Roannaise
• Gamay 9 – Te Mata Gamay Noir, Hawkes Bay
• Gamay 10 – Puy de Dome, Auvergne
• Gamay 11 – Beauregard Fleurie
• Gamay 12 – Antoine Sunier Morgon 2014 and Regnie 2014
• Gamay 13 – Thibault Liger-Belair Les Roucheaux 2011
• Gamay 14 – Bow and Arrow 2014 Oregon
• Gamay 15 – Domaine de Fa Beaujolais en Besset 2014
• Gamay 16, Pearl Morissette Cuvée Mon Unique Gamay 2013
• Gamay 17, BK Wines et Le Grappin Les Deux Fous Gamay
• Gamay 18, G Spot Vin de…France, Beaujolais Villages
• Gamay 19, du Grappin Fleurie 2014
• Gamay 20, Lapierre Morgon 2014 ‘N’
• Gamay 21, Bass Phillip Gamay 2014 Gipplsand
  
• Gamay 22, Château de Durette Morgon ‘Hommage’ 2014
• Gamay 23, Joie Farm Gamay 2014 Okanagan, Canada
• Gamay 24, Samantha Gamay 2014 Okanagan, Canada
• Gamay 25, Julien Sunier Fleurie 2015
• Gamay 26, Jean-Paul Thevenet Morgon 2015
• Gamay 27, Lapierre Morgon 2009
  
• Gamay 28, Domaine Verdier-Logel Poycelan 2016
• Gamay 29, B Kosuge Wines Gamay Noir 2015 Carneros
• Gamay 30, Herve Souhaut La Souteronne 2015
• Gamay 31, Easthope Family Winegrowers Gamay Noir 2015 Hawkes’ Bay