Winemakers Rod and Emma Easthope make one of New Zealand's best  Gamays, Not that there are many Gamays made but Easthope Family Vineyards Gamay is super impressive. Despite its brand name it's actually made with grapes grown on Ian Quinn's the Two Terraces Vineyards in Maraekakaho, Hawke's Bay. Quinn is a fellow lover of the velvet smooth reds that the Gamay grape is capable of making. 

Legend has it (by relatively good authority, we are led to believe) that Gamay originally comes from Burgundy, France, but was banished from there in 1395 by Phillippe the Bold. It is documented that this particular Phillippe preferred Pinot Noir. But history aside, Gamay has found fortune and misfortune in the region of Beaujolais, immediately south of Burgundy. It's best known for cheap and not particularly cheerful 'nouveau' styles, which are often made from unripe, unfully fermented grapes which taste like pale rosé with a note of sweetness and not much else going for them. There are better nouveau styles but they're few and far between in New Zealand, in terms of their availability here and anyway, they don't put Gamay's gorgeously best foot forward. Rod Easthope does hope (if you'll excuse the pun) to do so, with his Gamay. He first fell for the charms of this grape after sharing a bottle of French 1929 Morgon; one of the top villages in the Beaujolais region, in which Gamay now finds its home. 

The Easthope Gamay we have in store is a lovely wine is made from hand picked grapes, which were whole bunch fermented, foot stomped and aged in a combination of old oak puncheons and stone eggs.

Bottled unfined, unfiltered and unsulphered.

Buy Easthope Gamay here.