Appellation:
Shenandoah Valley
Winemaker Notes:
Despite another year of COVID-19, drought, fires and the hottest summer months on record, we count our blessings that despite it all, 2021 was an amazing grape-growing year. We observed strong fruit growth, well balanced acids and sugars. The season got off to a dry start, with rainfall at just 16” for the season or 45% of normal. The impact on reservoirs across California was dramatic after the second year of well below-normal rains. What ultimately saved our season was rain falling gently and in small quantities for much of the winter, keeping soil moist right down to the root zones. Bud break happened a month early, and this was the first year our vineyard manager pruned all vines himself, 8500 of them and about 250,000 cuts (thankfully with battery-operated shears). That special consistent attention to pruning, gradual rainfall and the drought-tolerant deep digging rootstock helped all vines produce at nearly full capacity. We watched with amazement as the Gamay, Syrah, Mourvedre and Roussanne, all grafted just a year earlier, produced a bumper crop. Although a major fire burned close by (Caldor) we were fortunate to have none of our grapes impacted. Harvest began in August and wrapped up end of October, with 16 wines produced this year from our 9 varietals of estate-grown grapes.
We have been looking into Gamay for several years now, exploring special vineyards in neighboring El Dorado county at 3,000-foot altitude with similar soil structure to those in the Northern part of Beaujolais and the Northern Rhône (beautiful red, weathered granitic soil). After experimenting with a couple of small batches of grapes from the Barsotti vineyard, we grafted the same clone to our lower hillside block in 2020, which successfully took hold and gave us a first bumper crop in 2021.
We harvested by hand September 22, 2021 at a Brix of 22.9, pH 3.4. We fermented it Beaujolais-style, using carbonic maceration (whole cluster in tanks with dry ice (CO2) to do anaerobic fermentation using native vineyard yeast). This carbonic maceration fermentation lasted about 26 days, after which the grapes were whole-cluster pressed in a gentle bladder press and finished fermenting 10 days later. No oak was added and no secondary malolactic fermentation.
Those of you who love Beaujolais-style Gamay know the signature aromas - wild strawberries, raspberries and cherry. Light-bodied with tasting notes of summer herbs. This wine is less acidic than the usual Beaujolais, with a light acidity pH of 3.8, creating a long-lingering finish. A beautiful ruby color. It is fantastic as a light fruity appetizer wine, yet pairs very well with meat and cheese plates as well as salad dishes and even roast chicken and fish.
Vineyard Notes:
Our 2021 Gamay Noir was the first harvest of our estate grown Gamay, which was grafted from cane cuttings from the Barsotti vineyard in El Dorado county, considered the best for Gamay, onto 20 year old rootstock on a cooler lower east facing hillside of our estate. There are less than 25 acres of Gamay growing in El Dorado county, with a long waitlist to obtain grapes, and La Mesa is the only grower of Gamay in Amador county. The soil conditions here are very similar to those found in the Northern part of Beaujolais and Northern Rhône.
