Five top bottles of Gamay to enjoy at home

Love a medium-bodied red that performs beautifully solo but also holds its own with a smorgasbord of food? For a juicy, aromatic number that is just as happy slightly chilled as it is straight off the shelf, go for gamay.

Wine aficionados are well-versed in the variety, which is primarily grown across France (think Burgundy and Loire), though a small but burgeoning number of Australian grape growers are committed to its future on local turf. Many of them are growing small amounts of the variety; quietly, without fanfare, confident in its suitability to our climate (in and out of the glass). French appellation Beaujolais is the most famous spot for gamay, which for the large part is why it is on our radar.

"If you spoke to most winemakers in Australia, they'd be drinking premium Beaujolais," says De Bortoli winemaker Steve Webber, who grows and makes gamay in Victoria's Yarra Valley. "People are really starting to get into it."

Webber believes the popularity of top-notch burgundy (and resulting increase in price) forced people to look elsewhere. "A lot of winemakers and sommeliers were already interested in Cru Beaujolais and as burgundy got really expensive, people just couldn't afford it anymore and looked for other interesting red varieties."

Enter gamay. "It's such a wonderful food wine," Webber says. "It grows in climates similar to the cool climate parts of Australia. We began by grafting it in medium-quality vineyards, but realised how good it was and now want to start planting it in our premium sites."

The likes of Mornington Peninsula's Eldridge Estate forged the way in gamay; Beechworth's Sorrenberg grows and makes biodynamic gamay; Gippsland's Bass Phillip Wines makes a small but stellar amount (if you see it out in the wild, snap it up); Terrason Wines make a gamay using fruit from John Darling's vineyard in the King Valley; and Yarra Valley's Payten & Jones grows it now, too. In northern Tasmania, Sinapius Wines grows and makes it in the Pipers Brook wine region, while in the Adelaide Hills, more vineyard space is being devoted to the variety.

Viticulturist Mark Vella supplies the variety to small producers such as Adam Wadewitz, Turon White, Sam Scott, Darryl Catlin and Greg Clack. "It's a really exciting variety for the Hills," Vella says. "It's a ripper wine. In the glass, gamay is in between pinot noir and shiraz."

Vella chooses the winemakers he supplies fruit to carefully. "The last thing we want is for gamay to go out to people who crop it at 25-tonne a hectare and then you have a variety that's $12 a bottle and it's buggered from the start. You want the right people to make and build it in a region."

Back on the Mornington Peninsula, Webber also sells a little bit of his fruit to smaller, innovative producers such as Mac Forbes and Timo Mayer Wines. "They are good ambassadors for the variety."

Pro-tip Steve Webber believes the term "crunchy" is overused. "I prefer to say gamay is autumnal. By that I mean there isn't a better match for pine mushrooms and truffles. Earthy foods tend to pair well with it."

Five to try

• De Bortoli PHI Gamay Noir (Yarra Valley, Vic) is worth the hunt. Find it at boutique wine merchants, fine wine retailers and cellar door. 13.5 per cent alcohol, from $30, debortoli.com.au
• The family-grown and made 2021 Farr Rising Gamay (Geelong, Vic) is a savoury delight. 14.5 per cent alcohol, $55, byfarr.com.au
• XO Wine Co. 2022 Gamay (Adelaide Hills, SA) is Greg Clack's first foray into the variety and an exciting sign of things to come. 13 per cent alcohol, $32, xowineco.com.au
• The 2020 Eldridge Estate Gamay (Mornington Peninsula, Vic) hits all the right marks. Estate grown. 13 per cent alcohol, $55, find it at wine merchants, eldridge-estate.com.au
• Amp it up and go for a magnum of the Catlin Wines 2020 Whole Bunch Gamay (Adelaide Hills, SA). $90, catlinwines.com.au