Frenchy French
A few good quotes from a famous Frenchman: "Wine can be considered, with good reason, as the most healthful and hygienic of all beverages” --&-- “The flavor of wine is like delicate poetry." - Louis Pasteur
Ner’ a truer word was spoken. Thanks Doc!
Now we venture, with our taste buds, into France. Our whites will hail from the Western Loire Valley. Calm and bone dry, these white wines are perfect for Summer, Seafood, or a Second bottle! Then we bounce all around the country for our reds blends. Bordeaux-Merlot, South Rhone-Grenache, back to the Loire Valley for Cab Franc and we finish in Roussillon for a Syrah. What a wild adventure!
So, come and hang out @ Humble Vine Wednesday August 1st, 4pm-8pm.
La Mariniere, Muscadet, Loire $11
This wine is NOT Muscat, like Moscato d’Asti. This wine is NOT sweet. This wine IS from a grape called Melon Du Bourgogne and is from the east of the Loire Valley. Muscadet is unusual in that it is the name of the wine, but not the name of either the grape or region. Bone dry, and perfect for light foods like fish and Gnocchi. Crisp apple and citrus flavors flecked with hints of yeast, white pepper and sea salt. Muscadet is criminally under-appreciated by most wine drinkers and so offers extremely good value.
Chateau de la Jousseliniere, Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, Loire $13
The Pays Nantais are the environs around the western Loire Valley city of Nantes, home to Muscadet and its lesser-known cousin, Gros Plant. Gros Plant (also known as Folle Blanche) is the base of the finest Cognacs and Armagnac. Pale lemon-gold in the glass, with aromas of straw, white currants, golden raspberries, lemon pith, gardenia blossoms, and wintergreen. Rarely seen outside Loire.
Chateau La Croix du Duc Bordeaux 2015 $13
The first thing you should know is that when you buy this little Bordeaux by the case...it comes in its own wood box. Now for the wine itself. 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc & 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. She has some great fruit aromas with amazing some toast and soft tannins. This might be the winner-winner chicken-dinner...wine!
Gonnet, La Mado Rasteau, Southern Rhone $15
Dark garnet red in the glass. The swirl reveals the nose a rich berry basket with lots of spices. On the nose it has dark fruits and hint of bacon! On the palate there is plum, fig, pleasant earth, and mineral. A medium tannin with a lingering and pleasant finish.
M & S Bouchet, Le Sylphe, Cab Franc, Loire $21
It is beyond alive here with classic, sweet spices and black pepper. There is a silky, tobacco quality that combines well with all of the explosive black fruit. The wine tastes even better on day two when the tannin relaxes and all that is left is the exposed, raw richness of fruit that comes to the center weaving in and out with perfect acidity on a solid structure.
Bastide Miraflors, Roussillon $18
This wine is almost too good to be true. A blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache that was brought up in concrete tank. One of the most advanced wineries in the region, Jean-Marc and his wife Elaine are crafting "must buy" wines from the region of Roussillon. The Bastide Miraflors is a blend of Syrah and old-vine Grenache. The vineyards for this wine are practicing organic with an average vine age of 55 years.