2 for $25: Budget Bourgogne Bubbles and Gamay Paired with Baked Camembert and Wine Harvester’s Chicken #Winophiles

Budget Bourgogne Bubbles and Gamay

Bourgogne vs Burgundy? Affordable vs $$$$?

Guess what: Bourgogne is Burgundy in French, so there’s no competition! And affordable or expensive? The region offers both! For November, #Winophiles host Cyndy Rynning takes us to Burgundy, France, to find affordable wines for the holidays. Home to eye-rolling expensive Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Burgundy (aka Bourgogne in French) also offers more affordable red wines like Gamay and sparkling wines like Cremant de Bourgogne.

Looking for affordable still or sparkling wines from the regionin an appellation with four main grape varieties Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay, and Aligoté, Gamay and Cremant were our obvious choices,  especially when I learned about this great recipe for Wine Harvester’s Chicken from Jeff Burrows, and I picked up a Camembert to go with the Cremant, both from Trader Joes. 

Burgundy, Beaujolais, Rhone

 
 
Surprisingly  while half of the bottles produced in Bourgogne leave France with 21% of them going to the US, it wasn’t easy to find a bottle of Gamay grown in Bourgogne… or anywhere else. I grabbed the sole bottle of gamay I could find from three stores, a Louis Jadot from Bevmo, only to realize on reflection that it wasn’t actually thought of as from, Burgundy, but just south, in Beaujolais.
 
 
 
And so that’s what we did, we opened the bottle of Gamay from Beaujolais, located just at the tip of Burgundy, and within Beaujolais, in the hilly Beaujolais Villages area. Which technically is part of Burgundy.
 
Burgundy has more granite here in the soils than limestone like it does in the north and good thing Gamay grows great with granite. Cru Beaujolais has the most character; read more about several here paired with holiday fare. We also compared two Cru Beaujolais in “Comparing Louis Tete’s 2016 Brouilly and Morgan Gamay from Beaujolais With Pairings” where I wrote:
 
Located east of Bordeaux, and just north of Lyon and south of Burgundy, Beaujolais is is the home to Gamay aka Gamay Beaujolais. Wines are light, bright, fragrant, and fruity, and typically enjoyed when young as they don’t usually gain much in complexity with age. The prolific grape produces less fruit on stony, granitic soils of the crus.  Grapes traditionally were pruned in a gobelet shape, not trained onto wires, but this is changing for increased mechanization.
 

Budget Bourgogne Bubbles and Gamay

 

Affordable Wines from Bourgogne

Menu

 
 

NV La Burgondie Crémant de Bourgogne blanc Brut Reserve

ABV: 12%
SRP: $10.99 
Grapes: Aligoté , Chardonnay , Gamay , Pinot Noir
purchased at Trader Joe’s 

Over 10% of the wine produced in Burgundy is sparkling– aka Crémant de Bourgogne

Appearance:  Extremely lively bubbles, pale lemon, once the lively bubbles dissipate there are lovely tiny persistent bubbles rising from the middle of the glass. 

Aroma: Chamomile and lemon curd, bee pollen, fennel. 

Palate: Simple yet pleasing, creamy textured bubbles, nice mouthfeel. Lemon lime on the palate and the finish. While it is not necessary this would make a great cocktail wine because of the acidity. 

Pairing: The orange rind that Sue topped the baked brie with was absolutely perfect with the wine. It cuts through some of the richness of the cheese, and is so nice with the wine. The orange rind with the spices are a perfect match with the wine. The depth of flavor enhances the wine nicely. The chicken brings out a bit of brioche in the wine that wasn’t present prior.  The sweet grapes become savory in the dish which tango nicely with the sparkling wine. This is a an affordable and satisfying meal that is nicely elevated with this affordable easy to find wine. 

2020 Louis Jadot Gamay, Beaujolais-Villages

2020 Louis Jadot Gamay, Beaujolais-Villages

ABV: 13.5%
SRP: $18
Grapes: Gamay
purchased for $14 on sale at BevMo

Appearance:  Surprisingly cloudy and dense with medium plus density. 

Aroma: Sweet raspberry fruit, Bubble Yum bubble gum, raspberry vines licorice 

Palate: This is not a sweet wine, but there is sweet fruit on the palate, nicely structured tannins, you can taste the stems, lengthy raspberry vine finish. Medium to light bodied. Best served at cellar temp rather than room temp. There is a bit of minerality. This easy to access wine is nicely pleasurable. 

Pairing: Food changes this wine so dramatically, It loved the creamy richness of baked brie. The wine really responded to orange rind and lavender which brought out so much more fruit in the wine. I know from past experience that pate goes so nicely with this wine, however this evening we weren’t really missing anything with just our baked brie. Sue felt all of the flavors of the meal were perfect with the wine, but she would have cooked down and reduced her gravy. she felt that there needed to be more richness in the means of a rich gravy to elevate the wine. 

Wine Harvester’s Chicken

For more affordable Bourgogne, check out these articles from the French Winophiles:

10 thoughts on “2 for $25: Budget Bourgogne Bubbles and Gamay Paired with Baked Camembert and Wine Harvester’s Chicken #Winophiles”

Please Comment! I'd love to hear from you!