Description
The Gamay Noir has a pretty and intense ruby color. The nose is fresh and fruity with aromas of raspberry and redcurrant. Well-balanced, this dry, medium-bodied wine offers a great mouth feel with notes of cherry, plum, and raspberry with subtle hints of peach, vanilla, and apricot. Tannins are velvety. An elegant and fruity wine that would happily accompany almost any meal including game meat, stew, charcuterie, and cheeses.
The estate of Maison Henry Fessy consists of over 70 hectares (175 acres) of exceptional vineyards in the heart of the region's celebrated Crus. Originally from Burgundy, the Gamay Noir variety is a naturally fruity grape that produces elegant and balanced wines. The label features an image of an owl. Henry Fessy reintroduced owls to their vineyards in order to sustainably combat and eliminate rodents and other animals that attack the vine. This natural process has worked so well that they decided to honor the owl with this label.
Henry Fessy has remained faithful to the traditional method (no carbonic maceration) which favors the balance between the seductive fruit-forwardness and the supple tannins which guarantee good aging capability. All harvests are carried out by hand, the grapes are transported in small buckets to the winery, to be sorted. Once in the winery around 20% of the Gamay grapes are put into the fermentation tanks as whole bunches with the remaining 80% destemmed. Fermentation takes place at between 27 and 29 degrees Celsius with one or two pump overs each day. After fermentation the free run juice is drawn off and the grapes are transferred to the press. The first press juices are combined with the free run juice and then placed into cement and steel tanks for approximately a week. The length of the fermentation depends considerably on the vintage. The wines will then age in vats for between 7 and 10 months before being bottled the following spring. The wine is then aged and racked occasionally. It is bottled unfined with a light filtration with a small amount of added sulfur to protect the wine. Henry Fessy wines are also suitable for vegetarians.
