A Brief History of Gamay

“In the early years of the California wine industry, viticulturists and winemakers imported multiple varieties for what they believed to be the grape that had been used to make the ‘Gamay wines of the Beaujolais district’ in France.”

—Nancy L. Sweet, FPS Historian, U. of California Davis, July, 2018

The problem was they were all wrong.

UC Davis gave plants they thought to be the Gamay Noir à jus blanc of Beaujolais its own name: Gamay Beaujolais. After Prohibition, the university enthusiastically made Gamay Beaujolais plants available to all the California growers interested in capturing a corner of the growing market for a lightly colored, bright red wine. Gamay Beaujolais labels proliferated California wineries. Soon it became a widely recognized wine.

But Gamay Beaujolais was eventually discovered to in fact be a lesser “upright clone” of Pinot Noir. A second contrivance by the wine marketers of the California industry was Napa Gamay produced from a somewhat obscure grape that produced a medium bodied red wine. It was later identified as Valdiguié, a grape Jancis Robinson describes as “rudely productive… declining grape of southwest France.”

By the mid-1970s, some early grape growers in Oregon grew curious.

“There was no Gamay Noir as far as we knew in the states,” recalled David Adelsheim, one of Oregon’s pioneering winemakers .

On a 1977 trip to France, Adelsheim managed to secure an appointment with Claude Valat, the head of ANTAV (Association Nationale Technique pour l’Amèlioration de la Viticulture), the French Ministry of Agriculture’s commission overseeing certified French grape clones.

Adelsheim asked Valat if he would consider supplying true Gamay Noir à jus blanc clones to growers in Oregon. On March 28, 1977, Valat shipped four Gamay Noir clones—#282, #284, #221 & #356—to Dr. Ronald Cameron, the plant pathologist at Oregon State University.

“The instructions to Valat were very general - nothing more than sending us some Gamay noir á jus blanc so we could compare our available clones called “Gamay,” Adelsheim said. “He selected four clones.”

One clone #356 failed the inspection for viruses and was rejected. The other three clones were then released to Adelsheim and Richard Sommer for planting. Over time, clones #282 and #284 were found to be superior to clone #221. They went on to lay the nascent foundation of Gamay Noir plantings in Oregon.

Eventually, Adelsheim gave some cuttings to vineyard manager Joel Myers who propagated them in his Vinetenders nursery in Dayton. But there was little industry interest in this newly arrived varietal.

“I’ve got some Gamay plants I’ll sell you.” Joel offered after I expressed fondness for the grape, sparked by trips to Burgundy in the 1980s. Despite my lack of viticultural experience at the time it seemed reasonable that if Pinot Noir and Chardonnay thrived in the Willamette Valley, so could Gamay.

In May of 1991, Joel delivered 4,608 own-rooted, ungrafted vines to Brick House: 720 of clone #282 and 3,888 of clone #284. Price: $0.85 each.

Clone #282, isolated in 1973 by ANTAV, is noted for its elevated productivity, early ripening, and above average sugar content. It is said to produce balanced wines with “sufficient” color and fruitiness. Clone #284 is described as a high production clone producing wines that “lack structure and aroma” when left to carry a naturally heavy crop. When properly thinned, our own-rooted plants provided wonderful wines for more than twenty years despite their reputation as mere “production clones.”

By 2020, however, the creeping onset of phylloxera became increasingly noticeable. We started replanting—an expensive and heart-rending process, but one that allowed us to upgrade our clonal material.

The first upgrade was the “Due East” block on a steep, east facing hill above the winery. The first planting there in 2011 consisted entirely of Gamay clone #358. With this plant, the French analysts describe a new level of desirability, “…sugars above average…producing wines with structure and balance. Rich aromatics… wines to drink young or to age.”

As if to illustrate the truth of this analysis, the Brick House 2015 Due East Gamay Noir, made up of 100% clone #358, won a gold medal in the annual tasting of Gamays sponsored by the growers of Beaujolais.

In 2021, we learned that yet another top-tier Gamay Noir clone was available from U.S. nurseries. Clone #509 was isolated by ANTAV in 1976. Here, too, the French literature was effusive: produces wines with “…rich aromatics, finesse, with restrained color, balance, appropriate for aging rather than early drinking.” They consistently are rated top tier in Gamay Noir industry tastings in France.

Since 2020, all Brick House Gamay wines have come from clones #358 and #509. The overall planting of Gamay Noir has grown to over 5 acres with plans for 1.5 acres of clone #509 in 2025.

Over the years, I’ve come to believe that our site is particularly suited to this maverick, black sheep grape. That may be due to our exceedingly low soil pH, common in most of Beaujolais. Or perhaps it is due to the abundance of silica in our soils, another element in common with the vineyards south of Burgundy.

Whatever the reasons, time and experience has led us to consider Gamay Noir à jus blanc to be a keystone varietal of Brick House wines.