When Ray and Maree Collis started Lethbridge Estate in 1996, the first vines that went into the ground were Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Shiraz. The pair were big fans of Burgundy (and still are!), while cool-climate Shiraz had a proven track record in the Moorabool Valley. Over the years, they noticed a shift in the climate, an increasing frequency of warmer rather than cooler vintages. So, in 2016, they planted some Gamay on the lower, warmer, more sheltered pocket of their rock-rich home vineyard. “Gamay can deal with a warmer climate than Pinot Noir,” Ray told us. “And like Pinot Noir, it’s a wine that’s full of joy. I love making it.”Until 2022, Ray Nadeson had only ever made wine at one place: Lethbridge. That changed when he was offered a parcel of Cru Régnié from his friend, ex-cellar hand and Beaujolais native, Philippe Viet. Without hesitation, Ray jumped on a plane for harvest at Viet’s domaine and crafted his first non-Lethbridge wine from biodynamically farmed fruit from 100-year-old vines. Both Gamay wines have a distinct sense of place—one is definitively Australian, the other definitively Régnié—yet they are united by the common thread of the Lethbridge touch.