2006 Cote de Brouilly, Domaine de Robert Perroud – Smells like flowers, spice cake, cola, and dried cherry. I’d think at first whiff that it was destined to be sweet and luscious. And it begins to hint at those ripe, fruit forward flavors. But there’s some serious grip to this wine, even after a few years of bottle age.  The finish doesn’t linger, but there’s depth here. Lots of pretty layers to this.

2009 St. Pourcain, Chambre d’Edouard, Domaine Grosbot-Barbara – Light and fun, there’s that quintessential stony nose characteristic of so many Loire wines. This is obviously a brighter wine, though, with less “rocks” and more pure fruit. A Pinot Noir/Gamay blend that’s dominated by the former, this is the most delicate and playful of the three wines I’m trying. Tart cherry, berries, and flowers. A real value in the neighborhood of 15 bucks.

2010 Gamay La Boudinerie, Noëlla Morantin – This wine can be a bit of a head scratcher at first. On one hand, this strikes me as being very similar to any number of dirty, rustic Loire Valley gamays, most notably from the Touraine appellation. On the other hand, this does have some interesting qualities. And in reading up on Morantin’s wines, it looks like she does indeed work in that region and is located near the sites of some of my favorite Loire gamays. So this is in many respects the essence of natural wine reflecting terroir: the natural yeast, the soil, the grapes, the weather should all be similar to these other wines.  With minimal manipulation, it’s unsurprising that there are so many features similar to other wines I love. So what this may lack in distinctiveness relative to other “natural” gamays from the region, it makes up for in enjoyment and expression of a place and an ideal. All that bullshit aside… There are grape undertones to an otherwise earthy nose. Mildly herbal, there are mostly berry flavors here and a bit of astringency and acidity at the finish. Opens up quite a bit over a half hour. While this strikes me as a bit dull and earthy, it’s fundamentally nice stuff with a rustic yet feminine quality.

Some of these, notably the Morantin, are available elsewhere, but if you’re in A2, stop in and see Mary, Jackie, or Putnam at Everyday Wines in Kerrytown!

In 2008, one can count among those delicious wines “La Butte.” Modest in alcohol content, it’s light-bodied but nonetheless loaded with flavor. It reeks of mixed berries, cinnamon, and even hints of juniper and roasted coriander seed. Dry and tart, there’s a lot of natural fermented fruit flavors on the palate including a long, lingering blueberry or currant tartness. That dash of sour and a bit of astringency continue for quite a while — long enough, at least, to tap out a few sentences on a drinks blog.

• Alcohol: 11.8%
• Grape: Gamay
• Region: Touraine, Loire Valley, France
• Importer: Louis/Dressner

Before we reached the shelter of the cedar bank behind our cabin, four thirsty doe emerged from the woods. They drank and watched us paddle toward them and then leapt back into the woods when we were close enough. We grounded the canoes for the night. I rinsed my sweaty face in the cold water of the Rifle River and ascended the bank to eat.

A bottle of Cascina degli Ulivi Monferrato Nibio was opened while the pasta boiled on a camp stove. Though the sun had fallen behind the high birch that surrounded the cabin the air was still thick with heat. The Nibio knew no better. It could be thick too, thick with grapes and a sweetness that wasn’t really sweet but the memory of it, thick as it was and drinkable and even a healthy sip behind roasted chicken and pesto.

When the sun rose again we were in a meadow casting to slow rising trout. The tall grass behind us sparkled with dew. Warblers sang morning songs. Then a car spot and a long paddle down the river that was deep and sandy when it wasn’t flowing over gravel beds. The river made me think of wine.

It was a fine, long day and back at camp we devoured whitefish roe and smoked salmon on cream cheese and crackers. A crisp Duval-Leroy was popped. The cork was lost in the woods. The champagne was notably dry and clean and gone before the small tins of caviar. A Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon finished the job. Out of the cooler it was tight and thin grapefruit. It warmed and bloomed into liquid applestones and yellow butterflies. Our backs ached in a satisfying way and we floated for a moment looking down at ourselves. We were obviously having fun.

Four pounds of Delmonico were thrown on to a white-hot grill. An Altos las Hormigas Malbec filled glasses. Rich and plum-fruit forward the Malbec synchronized with fat bites of steak. A Caprese salad built from homegrown basil and heirloom tomatoes tasted foolishly delicious after all. We slept like royalty on bare mattresses.

We spent the next day touring the Au Sable State Forest through Jack Pine wilderness, ate lunch at a south branch access noisy with drunken midday paddlers, and patted an orphaned fawn named Lucky. A Houghton Lake pizza dinner later we gathered fallen cedar for our last campfire.

2003 Duboeuf Fleurie Domaine des Quatre Vents made the rounds. Perhaps a bit too subtle for camping wine it nevertheless drank quite easily and offered aromas of purple flowers and cherry skins. The wine made me think of wine. A bottle of Chateau D’Oupia and a fire late into the night finished us off. The D’Oupia added pepper-spice to an assortment of olives and comradeship. Down at the cedar bank our canoes set for the morning and one final adventure. In an upstream pond two loons cried out into the night.

Now I’m getting into some gamay. By god. There is little on the nose other than hints of what is to come through in a fabulous sip. What a fine drink, balanced fruit and acidity and a chalky finish. This wine won’t be defined by a voluminous produce list. It is like a single-name pop star voted into my personal hall of fame. Is compulsive drinkability a good wine characteristic? Another fine Miller Squared import.

It doesn’t get much more obscure than Côteaux d’Ancenis. As a matter of record, I pride myself on being a total Loire Valley Wine Geek, and even I hadn’t heard of this appellation when Doug brought the wine back from his last trip. Located in the Loire Atlantique, northeast of Nantes, on the banks of the Loire River, this appellation specializes in reds and rosés made from 100% gamay. With a vine age of approximately 38 years Pierre Guindon has 13 hectares in Côteaux d’Ancenis on hillsides made up of clay, granite and schist. He hand harvests (practically unheard of in the appellation) and vinifies each parcel separately as they each have a different style. He keeps his yields very low and has a planting density of 6500 per hectare to encourage concentration.

As if there are brilliantly shiny things twisting in the dazzling light above it, I proceed directly to the rack wealthy with Loire wine. It is there I find a bottle of 2006 Domaine du Fontenay, Côte Roannaise. Made from Gamay grapes grown on the hill of St Sulpice, this wine apparently benefits from contact with granite as well as a lack of yeast or sugar manipulation. It’s purple. The nose is candied cherries on fern. A drink is light-bodied, intense with fruit and a focused acidity. It finishes with a healthy dose of tannin and weightier. A joyous match with medium-rare ribeye. Dressner might have imported it though he didn’t.