Gama-Belle

This is a clever little fortified wine from Cave de la Côte. The grape is one of Gamay's children, Gamaret. The grapes are harvested and then left on trays for 1-2 months before fermentation. The fermentaion is stopped by the addition of eau-de-vie de vin (brandy spirit made from the same grapes) which raises the alcohol level and leaves some residual sweetness.

The colour is a lovely garnet in both the core and the rim. The 'legs' are tremendous! On the nose there is a huge concentration of red and black berrys and blackcurrant that took me back to the 1970's and the sweets that we enjoyed at that time. Those fruit flavours continue on the palate along with far less sweetness than you might expect. Enough sweetness to lift it past off-dry but nowhere near enough to class it as a sweet wine. Along with the fruit there is chocolate and spice. The finish is long and delicious.

This is a wine for chocolate and cheese.