Written By Treve Ring Libations / Red Wine Sep 9, 2011 Château des Charmes Gamay Noir Droit, St. David’s Bench Vineyard SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter PinterestChâteau des Charmes Gamay Noir Droit, St. David’s Bench Vineyard 2008 Niagara, Ontario$18-24 +582353 Available in select private liquor storeswww.chateaudescharmes.comWay back in 1982, Château des Charmes’ founder Paul-Michel Bosc was pioneering clonal selection research at his vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake. When walking through the vines, he noticed a single Gamay Noir vine that exhibited some interesting and unique characteristics. Most noticeably to the eye, the vine shoots grew upright (droit is upright in French). This particular Gamay produced grapes that ripen about ten days later than standard Gamay Noir, building higher sugar levels and achieving darker colour. The result is a red wine with more body, alcohol and flavour concentration.Bosc began propagation of this single vine, tending and cultivating it for two decades before he was granted international Plant Breeder’s Rights to recognize it as an entirely new vinifera. Therefore, Gamay Noir Droit, Canada’s first vinifera, was born.Definitely fuller in colour (glowing purple violet) and body than typical Gamay, this single vineyard red opens with wild berries and earth. The juicy palate is potent ripe berry, cranberry and black cherries, with a dark chocolate-cinnamon spiced finish. Solid structure, with lower tannins and a ripe cherry juiciness throughout. This would be great with pasta Bolognese or turkey drumsticks.Rating: (click here to see what our wine ratings mean)EATrecommendsChâteau des Charmes Gamay Noir Droit, St. David’s Bench Vineyard 2008Definitely fuller in colour (glowing purple violet) and body than typical Gamay, this single vineyard red opens with wild berries and earth. The juicy palate is potent ripe berry, cranberry and black cherries, with a dark chocolate-cinnamon spiced finish. Solid structure, with lower tannins and a ripe cherry juiciness throughout. This would be great with pasta Bolognese or turkey drumsticks.—————————————————————————————————————————————Editor’s Note: I worked with Paul Bosc back in those early days. My job was to clean out the vats ( I was a skinny lad). Then we would walk around the winery sampling from the tanks. His favourite (he said) were the fermenting whites which he called Sturm wine. Sturm referred to the “storm” the raw wine would make in your stomach if you drank too much. His wife would put on on these great spreads of charcuterie and cheeses to feed us workers. It was a heady time in the Niagara. – G.H.GamayWine Reviews SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Treve Ring Treve Ring is a wine writer, editor, judge, consultant and certified sommelier, and has been with EAT Magazine for over a decade.\r\n\r\nIn addition to her work with EAT, she is a Wine Critic and National Judge for ... Read More You may also like Beer / Beer & Cider / Drink / Events / Victoria March 24, 2019 A New Beer Society in Town Victoria Beer Week launched its sixth annual festival earlier this month, which ran from March 1-9. In addition to the festival returning for another ... Read More Beer / Wineries & Breweries February 4, 2019 Vancouver Island Brewery’s New Porter and New Re-Rebrand Vancouver Island Brewery unveils new porter along with their new re-rebrand Vancouver Island Brewery held a flight night last week, in part to ... Read More Causes / Events January 25, 2019 Blue Monday Pop-Up Bar – 100 Proof Blues January can be tough around these parts. In fact, it has come to be so globally known as such, that the third Monday of each January has ... Read More Cocktails / Events January 25, 2019 The Complete Bartender Competition 2019 Little Jumbo played host to Nimble Bar Co.’s The Complete Bartender Competition, January 16, 2019 Last Wednesday, I judged my first cocktail ... Read More Beer & Cider / Events / Victoria March 1, 2018 Victoria Beer Week launches its fifth year Victoria is once again readying itself to host the fifth annual Victoria Beer Week. As locals and beer geeks alike wet their palates for special ... Read More Coffee & Tea / Victoria December 18, 2017 Level Ground Trading Moves Up to New State-of-the-Art Headquarters Victoria, BC – Level Ground Trading, Victoria’s Fair Trade pioneer, is moving from their current location in Central Saanich, to a larger ... Read More Comments are closed.
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