INSIDER'S PICK: 2023 VINS VIVANT GAMAY HAUTE-SAVOIE 'YOGAMAY' $27.99

As we approach full Beaujolais-mania the week before Thanksgiving, we wanted to show off some under-the-radar but surprisingly delicious Gamay, grown near the region for centuries but new in this form. If you go high enough up in Lyon you can look North and see the hills and ridges in the distance that define Beaujolais. Turning East and looking up the Rhone River, you can see the Alps in the distance with the Savoie region in the foothills. In the in-between lies Bugey, an area known historically for making a sparkling 'Methode Ancestrale' wine using Gamay, usually slightly sweet and a rose to ruby color. Still wines weren't usually attempted here much because the cooler Alpine influences made it more difficult to ripen grapes as easily as in Beaujolais, and the rolling hills here meant the vineyards are mostly scattered from ridge to ridge. Growing popularity for lower alcohol wines in general has spurred new interest in the potential for making still wines here with Gamay (as well as Poulsard, Jacquere and other Alpine grapes), and the more we see from promising producers like this, the more we agree this is a region to watch. Lovely ruby color in the glass, perhaps a bit darker than your typical Cru Beaujolais, but at under 13%abv it definitely isn't thicker or heavier. Cool red fruits and dark energetic floral notes immediately marks this as Gamay, and gets prettier the longer it is open. The palate is where this really shows itself as something different, with a distinct spine of acidity that brightens the fruit and adds a lot of tangy cranberry notes and a little firmer finish. Beaujolais is great, but it isn't the only game in town now. 

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