Tasting Note Malivoire has made five red gamays in the 2024 vintage, the grapes sourced from different vineyards in the home Beamsville vineyards, plus Twenty Mile Bench and Vinemount Ridge. But vineyard site is not so much the focus here, more so stylistic diversity, created in some cases by winemaking. If there is a consistent quality in Malivoire’s gamays, it is more fruit and floral forward, with some deeper colour, good weight and modest tannin. If someone asked me which Niagara gamay producer is most Beaujolais-like I would pick Malivoire. Begin with the commendable juicy lighter Gamay 2024 ($20) (formerly known as Farmstead), which is light, fresh, juicy and charming. Wismer Foxcroft ($36) from Twenty Mile Bench is tidy, elegant and intriguing, with complex strawberry/pomegranate, pine forest, spice and pepper. It is light bodied, very silky with energy and minerality. Le Coeur ($40) from the Beamsville Bench is made 100% carbonic maceration, whole-cluster fermented, with the stemminess being very much a part of the aromatic profile. Also shows strawberry/cherry fruit and red rose and spice. It is light to mid-weight, firm and crunchy with a sense of rigidity and fine tannin. Genova ($30)is a charmer from cooler Vinemount Ridge, fermented in a large neutral wood vat, then further aged in neutral barrels, lending an elegant and almost suave texture. It captures pretty, genteel aromas of strawberry/cherry, subtle pepper and herbal notes. Small Lot ($24)is from three plots in the home vineyard in Beamsville, two-thirds whole cluster and aged eight months in stainless steel. Quite herbal/stemmy, firm and well-balanced.
