When Lionel and I went home for Christmas we tried some of the wines dad made. I’m not a big fan of red wine, but Lionel really wants to get into it and has developed a bit more tolerance than me, heh. Anyway, the only one I liked was “Bergamais.” After getting back to BC we went to several liquor stores and asked if they carried Bergamais, and every time we were referred to the “wine guy/gal” who subsequently looked at us as if we had two heads and have never heard of it. Well. So we continued to buy Merlots, and Pinot Noirs, in the hope that maybe we could find it in Newfoundland when we move back there someday….
The other day when we were buying wine I noticed a French wine called “Beaujolais” and thought to myself, “Self, this wine also starts with a B and has the same number of syllables… could it be?” and we bought it. Got home, opened it up - fantastic. Even good after a few days in the fridge, while other reds usually taste worse each day following. Lo and behold, an internet search after the fact by Lionel revealed that Beaujolais is indeed Bergamais! Now I am armed with the knowledge that wine made with Gamay grapes is awesome… and now, I just did a search and found out that Gamay grapes are grown in the Burgundy region of France… and way back when we first started buying wine we picked up a cheap bottle of “California Burgundy” that we also liked! A wine labelled Burgundy is most likely Pinot Noir; however, regulations allow them to contain up to two thirds Gamay grapes! Freaky! I never thought the day would come that I could identify my favorite wine by grape but it seems to have arrived… if only by a series of cool coincidences ;)
