I’d better come right out and say it, I love Gamay. I love a well made, delicious, fruit driven Gamay – it’s the perfect wine to get non-red drinkers to enjoy a glass of red wine. It’s fruity and delicious and one of the few reds you’ll never get flak from folks about chilling. On another yet related topic, I’m am hearing buzz about the 2008 vintage. While the majority of the press seems all ready to condemn it, the winemakers of Ontario are telling us to watch the wines coming out, we may be surprised. In France, Beaujolais Nouveau is the bellwether of the red vintage, here in Ontario you could say it’s Gamay (the grape of Beaujolais). Here’s the first Gamay of the 2008 vintage to be released, and it really is a beauty, it’s everything you want in you Gamay - aged 8 months in old barrels to retain it’s fruity character. Raspberry and cherry fruit waft up from the glass and that fruit comes full circle into the mouth, sweet cherry fruit across the tongue that’s just juicy and fresh right to the finish … it’s exactly what I expect from Gamay; it’s also light on alcohol, at 12% it’s not taxing on the palate, which is great because that would interfere with the fruitiness of the wine. I’d have to say, for a guy named Shiraz (winemaker at Malivoire) he makes an awesome Gamay. If this is the bellwether for the ’08 vintage then we best watch out, it’s gonna be a hellava good vintage. Price: $17.95 – Rating: *****