The Vignoble du Haut Bagneux has 21 hectares of vines with 10 different grape varieties planted including a parcel of 100 year-old Gamay de jus noir – a teinturier. (The vast majority of wine grapes have white flesh and includes all the top quality varieties. In the past teinturier varieties were used to give wines colour. Alicante Bouchet and Dornfelder are probably the best known today.) I must check with Jean-Christophe exactly which Gamay this is as there are apparently three different Gamay teinturiers – le Gamay de Bouze, le Gamay de Chaudenay and le Gamay Fréaux.
I started with the soft, easy drinking 2009 Gamay de Touraine that will be bottled this month made by carbonic maceration it had a hint of banana that can be typical of this fermentation process, especially if a particulr yeast has been used. Then the 2009 Cabernet – 60% Franc and 40% Sauvignon – with concentration, structure and quite marked blackcurrant notes. It will be bottled in April, whereas the soft and ripe Tradition – 50% Côt and 50% Cabernet Franc – will bottled in September.
Another domaine I need to visit. It will be interesting to taste the 2009 reds once they are in bottle.
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