About Gamay
- Style
- Red
- Grape Varieties
- Gamay
- Price Range
- ¥8,000-10,000
- Alcohol
- 8.5%
Gamay is Les Vins Vivants' debut single-varietal red from their own vines, made from 100% estate-grown Gamay planted since 2016 and trained in the traditional low goblet style in Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, part of the Chikuma River Wine Valley. Takahiro and Tomoko Ogino call Gamay their favorite grape, but the young vines' low vigor meant only enough fruit for blending into their Pinot Noir until the 2024 vintage, when a small enough crop finally allowed a pure varietal bottling. Fermented with indigenous wild yeast through whole-bunch semi-carbonic maceration with daily pigeage over a roughly three-week cuvaison, the wine is pressed and rested in stainless steel with no added sugar, no added acid, and no sulfites, then bottled unfiltered and unfined. Ogino trained for six years at Grace Wine in Yamanashi before working harvests in Beaujolais and Alsace under Nicolas Testard, and cites growers such as Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, Yvon Métras and Jean-Claude Lapalu as touchstones — while insisting this Gamay is deliberately its own thing, shaped by Tomi's climate rather than an imitation of Beaujolais.
This is the wine the Oginos have been waiting nearly a decade to make — Japan's most exciting new-wave Gamay, and proof that Tomi City can carry its own Beaujolais-inspired identity rather than imitate France's.
New to wine?
A juicy, chillable natural red that's an easy introduction to Beaujolais-style semi-carbonic winemaking, Japan-grown.
Food Pairings
Its bright acidity and light tannic grip make it a natural match for grilled chicken with herbs, charcuterie, and mushroom dishes — classic semi-carbonic Gamay pairings that also work well with lightly seasoned Japanese fare.
When to drink it
A celebratory bottle for natural wine lovers — great for a first taste of Japanese-grown Gamay, casual dinners, or sharing at a natural wine bar.
Terroir & Winemaking
100% Gamay from vines planted from 2016 in Goblet (low-trained) form on the estate's own 4-hectare vineyard in Tomi City, farmed without chemical herbicides or pesticides. Fermented with indigenous wild yeast via whole-bunch semi-carbonic maceration in stainless steel, with daily pigeage through most of fermentation and roughly three weeks of cuvaison. Pressed and rested in stainless steel for about two and a half months post-fermentation. No chaptalization, no acid adjustment, no fining, no filtration, and no added sulfites at any stage.
About the producer
Les Vins VivantsHusband-and-wife natural wine and cider from Nagano's Tomi.東御市, 長野県 · Founded 2019Visit the producer page →More wines from Les Vins Vivants
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What grape is Les Vins Vivants' Gamay made from?
- It's 100% estate-grown Gamay, harvested from vines the Oginos have planted since 2016 on their own vineyard in Tomi City, Nagano.
- How is this Gamay made?
- It ferments with wild yeast through whole-bunch semi-carbonic maceration, with daily pigeage over about three weeks, and is bottled with no added sulfites, no fining, and no filtration.
- Why did it take so long to release a varietal Gamay?
- The vines were planted gradually from 2016 and grew slowly due to low vigor, so for years the small Gamay crop had to be blended with Pinot Noir; only the 2024 harvest yielded enough fruit for a pure varietal bottling.
- What does Les Vins Vivants' Gamay taste like?
- The Oginos describe it as clean and well-balanced but distinctly its own — shaped by Tomi's hot, dry-autumn 2024 vintage rather than a copy of Beaujolais Gamay.
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