Eighty Four has two new releases out, including their first-ever Gamay Noir. The label is a side-project of Doug Shafer and Elias Fernandez, the proprietor and winemaker of Shafer Vineyards. The focus is on grape varieties which can excel in Napa Valley but are relatively unsung. In addition to the Eighty Four Albariño and Gamay Noir, there’s Malbec and Petite Sirah.

2018 Eighty Four Albariño Carneros, Napa Valley 93 13.9% 750ml $28

The Eighty Four Albariño, lush on the nose and appetizing in the mouth. The generous aromas of ripe fruit (peach, tropical fruit, yellow apple) and hibiscus are invitingly hedonistic, but also set up a nice surprise—the palate is less ripe and will be outstanding with food. The wine is juicy with pure, intense, attractively bitter-tart flavors of tangy tropical fruit, lime pith, and grapefruit pith. And the peach pit flavored finish is long and fine-textured. Delicious! Albariño is best when young, drink now through 2021.

There are only about 20 producing acres of Albariño in Napa Valley, the vast majority of those in the Carneros and Mount Veeder AVAs. The Iberian grape is best-known from the wines of Rias Baixas. Michael Havens planted it in Carneros in the late ‘90s and, though still limited in acreage, it’s gained a strong following in Napa Valley among winemakers and consumers alike.

For freshness, Fernandez fermented the juice in stainless and didn’t allow malolactic fermentation. The wine then aged four months on the fine lees in 75-gallon stainless barrels. 100% Albariño, 400 cases.

2017 Eighty Four Gamay Noir Carneros, Napa Valley 92 14.9% 750ml $35

The wine is dark ruby-purple in the glass with aromas of black cherry and wet concrete. Those notes show on the savory, but richly flavorful, palate as well, along with black plum skin and dark potting soil. Body is medium-plus, the moderate tannins are very fine with a touch of chalkiness, and there’s enough acidity to balance both texture and fruit. This wine has the ageability of the most-structured Cru Beajolais, but is fuller and much more approachable in its youth than they tend to be. Drink now through 2025.

Beaujolais is, of course, the world’s best-known Gamay Noir region, though the variety grows in several other parts of France. Lately, plantings on our West Coast have taken off, especially in the Willamette Valley. 

The grape has a somewhat confusing history in Napa Valley. “Napa Gamay” has been a thing for decades. However, most of those vines are actually Valdiguié, a wholly different grape. And the official, governmental acreage and crush reports for California still list only Napa Gamay, not differentiating between Valdiguié and Gamay Noir. In 2017, Napa Valley had 21 producing acres of Napa Gamay. The strong majority of that is probably Valdiguié.

Within Beajuolais, there are several styles and quality levels for the Gamay-based wines. They range from the light, fruit—and generally forgettable—Beaujuolais Nouveau to the deep, complex, and age worthy “cru” wines of Morgon, Moulin a Vent, and Chenas. It is the latter which served as the model for this wine from Eighty Four. And Carneros, the coolest of Napa Valley’s AVAs, is as close as Napa comes to the climate of Beaujolais. 

100% Gamay Noir, aged 14 months in 40% new French oak barrels. 168 cases.

See last year’s reviews of Eighty Four wines here.

Copyright Fred Swan 2019. Image courtesy of Eight Four. All rights reserved.