Gamay and Pinot Noir win over heavy-red skeptics

Tomás Reyes offered a small taste of lightly chilled Gamay across the bar at The Low Lantern to someone who expected red wine to taste heavy. Reyes, the bar’s head bartender, let the guest try it before committing to a glass.

In three pours recalled to Bonzai, guests who expected a heavy red instead liked a lighter-tasting one. Two hosts served Gamay a little chilled; a third recalls pouring Pinot Noir with Thanksgiving jollof. Each guest’s response went beyond a first taste.

Eli Rosenfeld, a baker at Alder & Oat who works in morning pastry, poured Gamay at home for someone who wanted red without a heavy, drying feel. Graham Okafor, a retired building superintendent who cooks their mother’s Lagos-style jollof for Thanksgiving, chose a lighter red after a neighbor said he usually avoided heavy ones. Reyes chose Gamay for the same concern, offering a taste so the guest could decide.

Rosenfeld chilled the Gamay for about 20 minutes. The guest took another sip right away, said it tasted more like tart fruit than the heavy red they expected, and finished the glass. At The Low Lantern, Reyes saw a similarly quick response to the lightly chilled Gamay: “They looked surprised, in a good way. Said it was brighter than they expected and ordered a glass.”

Okafor is less certain of the bottle: They recall it being Pinot Noir. They wanted something lighter beside the jollof, which their mother made every Sunday in Lagos. “I wasn’t about to let the wine boss it around,” Okafor said. Their neighbor said the wine was not heavy.

All three guests responded positively to the lighter-tasting reds they were served. At Okafor’s Thanksgiving table, the neighbor asked for another glass.