This wine is a delightfully geeky deep-dive into the wide-ranging Gamay grape, which continues to command more respect in Beaujolais and beyond. We keep encountering compelling Gamay wines from seemingly ‘unlikely’ locales, until we dig a little deeper and realize they’ve been hiding in plain sight.
The most obvious non-Beaujolais locale is its immediate neighbor to the north in Burgundy, the Mâcon, where red wines are just as likely to be from Gamay as Pinot Noir. Jean Rijckaert’s 2014 “Correaux,” from 50-year-old Gamay vines in the Mâcon village of Leynes, is a lush, fragrant, supremely affordable way to explore not only the tangled relationship of Pinot Noir and Gamay but an obscure little pocket of the Burgundy landscape. When out-of-the-way obscurities like this taste this good, it’s no wonder why Burgundy inspires such fanatical devotion among oenophiles.
As intimated above, the geeky details of this wine are plentiful. First off, as we’ve noted before, Beaujolais is part of the ‘Burgundy’ appellation—meaning that a Gamay-based red from Beaujolais is indeed a ‘red Burgundy,’ even though most wine drinkers immediately equate red Burgundy to Pinot Noir. Gamay is actually the spawn of Pinot Noir—according to the estimable British MW Jancis Robinson, it is the love child of Pinot Noir and an obscure white grape called Gouais Blanc—and is found throughout Burgundy, but it’s never gotten the respect of Pinot Noir. Gamay is hardier, more productive, easier to grow, and therefore less prestigious, and yet there are pockets of it all over the Pinot-dominated hills of Burgundy (culty Meursault producer Arnaud Ente bottles a sought-after Gamay from super-old vines in that village). The Mâcon is the borderland where Pinot country gives way to Gamay country, but the ‘Coteaux Bourguignons’ AOC designation used here by Jean Rijckaert covers the entirety of Burgundy (it replaced the ‘Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire’ designation in 2011).
Got all that? Now to Jean Rijckaert (pronounced REE-care), a long-established winemaker in the Mâcon who farms 4 hectares of his own vines while also working with purchased fruit. He crafts a rather broad array of wines, mostly whites, including some from Côte de Beaune appellations (he also makes some stunning Jura wines, one of which we offered recently, from 5.5 hectares in and around Arbois). “Correaux” is the name of the Rijckaert’s Gamay vineyard in Leynes, where he also lives, which provides the deeply concentrated, old-vine fruit for this wine. East-facing, with sandy/granitic soils more in line with what’s found in Beaujolais than Beaune (the Beaujolais cru village of Fleurie is about 20 minutes south), Correaux delivered ripe, softly contoured fruit in 2014; even though the grapes were only 30% de-stemmed, there’s not a ton of that whole-cluster ‘grippiness’ here. It is aged only in tank, allowing its bright, pure fruit to shine through.
The 2014 Correaux is a deep purplish ruby in the glass, with aromatics that meld floral/herbal notes of lavender, violet, and a little oregano with a dark-toned fruit component of black cherry, black raspberry, even a little blueberry. Aromatically it is rather firmly in Gamay country, minus the heavy iron/iodine quality of some cru Beaujolais, while texturally it resembles Beaune Pinot Noir: silky smooth and fine grained; quite polished, in fact. It drinks exuberantly well right out of the bottle, showing off its assertive florals at the first pour, and I’d suggest serving it in—what else?—Burgundy bowls at a cool-ish 60-65 degrees (not too cold—it’s got lots of aromatics to share). Its soft texture makes it a possible choice for on-its-own sipping, but there’s enough mineral grip and size for a fairly hearty food pairing as well. I’d like to try it alongside some spicy, saucy barbecue; its soft tannins and low alcohol will nicely tame any heat while complementing the flavors in the rub/sauce. Check it out with some
saucy baby back ribs for a high-impact, low-cost pairing.
