Gamay Beaujolais Explained

Gamay Beaujolais is a varietal designation for a Californian grape variety, an early ripening clone of Pinot noir. It is named after the Gamay grape from Beaujolais.

History

In the late 1930s, an early pioneer of the American viticulture, Paul Masson, brought with him several Burgundian grapes for his winery in California. One of those grapes he believed to be the Gamay variety from the Beaujolais region in France, which in the 1940s University of California at Davis (UCD) researchers christened "Gamay Beaujolais".^[1]

In the late 1960s, UCD scientists decided that Gamay Beaujolais was a clonal selection of Pinot noir, and that California's version of the true Gamay was in fact the Napa Gamay.

Moreover, Masson's Napa Gamay was found to not be a Gamay at all, but the Valdiguié grape from Languedoc-Roussillon.^[1]

Label ban

The US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) subsequently discouraged the use of the term "Gamay Beaujolais" and ruled that, from 1997, it could only be used as a secondary designation on wines made from more than 75% Pinot noir or Valdiguié. Since April 2007, the term "Gamay Beaujolais" has been banned from labels in the United States.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Web site: TD ATF-388a Gamay Beaujolais Wine Designation (92F-042P) . 7 May 1997 . pdf . Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) . 15 September 2022 . This final rule amends the wine labeling regulations to allow use of the term ``Gamay Beaujolais on American wine labels for a period of 10 years. From the time this final rule takes effect until the end of the phase-out period, a wine which derives not less than 75 percent of its volume from Pinot noir grapes, Valdiguie (``Napa Gamay) grapes, or a combination of both varieties, may use ``Gamay Beaujolais as a type designation of varietal significance. However, from January 1, 1999, until the end of the phase-out period, brand labels using the designation ``Gamay Beaujolais must also bear in direct conjunction therewith the varietal names Pinot noir and/or Valdiguie, along with the following statement on the brand or back label: ``Gamay Beaujolais is made from at least 75 percent Pinot noir and/or Valdiguie grapes. After the expiration of the phase-out period, the term ``Gamay Beaujolais will no longer be recognized as a designation for American wines.. Web site: Archived copy . 2019-12-23 . 2009-08-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090814064227/http://ttb.gov/rpd/tdatf388a.pdf . bot: unknown . .