Jean-Francois Merieau 2007 Le Bois Jacou Touraine Gamay

I don't think I've before had a Gamay from anywhere except Beaujolais, certainly not from France.

Medium-dark cherry red color. Strawberry smell, leather, hint of banana.

Strawberry/banana flavor, hint of peach, some carbonic maceration character, not a bit of oak. There's a little thinness in the finish. I can't distinguish this from a fair-to-good Beaujolais-Villages.

At $14.95, it's a fair buy but a dollar or two less would make it seem much more of a bargain. Still, I suppose real Beaujolais for $15 would be quite a find lately. I suffer from too clear a memory of the days of the wine lake, since drained to distill bioethanol.