France: Wine, French Wine Regions, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, & More Profiled
This wine (or at least this bottle) seems to be a bit better than a prior bottle which is saying a lot. It mostly the difficult 2011 vintage but includes almost two hundred different wines going back to the 1995 vintage. Forty-two percent of the cuvée is made up of Reserve wines. The final blend is 47 % Pinot Noir, 36% Chardonnay and 17% Pinot Meunier.
This is a relatively newer producer in the Rhone whose wines should be on your radar. Inky purple in color. The nose has black raspberries, white pepper, roasted herbs and a slight violet note. On the palate, this is full bodied. Delicious. Black raspberry fruit over smoke and nice minerality. Long finish. This will go great with roasts and casserole but also Indian and more robust Thai food. It still will continue to improve for the next five to seven years and should be good for ten to fifteen, at least, after that.
This is one of the better houses making sweet dessert wines in Barsac. This one was no exception. Light copper/orange in color. Perhaps a bit darker than expected but not an issue. On the nose, there is tropical fruit, slight each and a slight kindling smoke note. On the palate, this is rich. Plenty of Botrytis but good acidity to offset the sweetness. Honey and tropical fruit on the palate. Clean. Long finish. This is great on its own or with a more savory dessert (no chocolate). It should easily last another fifteen to twenty years.
This is a blend of 40% Pinot noir, 40% Chardonnay, and 20% Pinot Meunier. This is drinking very nicely. Light golden in color. The nose has red apples, brioche and slight toast. On the palate, this is easy, crisp and very enjoyable. The apples come thru with an underlying minerality. Good acidity. Nice finish. This should be consumed in the next few years. It is quite food friendly and will go with almost any food.
This was a sound bottle. Many of the Huet 2002's are subject to premature oxidation. This bottle was excellent. Chenin Blanc, especially with some residual sugar left, can last for decades. Golden in color, clear and bright and slightly deep. On the nose this has orange peel, crushed shells, salinity and a touch of canned peaches. Medium bodied. Slightly sweet on the palate. Complex. Nice minerality layered with a bit of peach and slight honey. Nice acidic backbone. This worked great with a peach cobbler dessert. Good bottles of this can be enjoyed at any point over the next cou
This is a dessert wine made from the Chenin Blanc grape. At age 17, this is doing great. Chenin is one of the longest lived wine grapes out there. Golden in color. The nose is great with sea air, orange peel, crushed shells and honey. Medium bodied. This is sweet, not cloying or even very sweet but more than off dry. There is also a bitter note on the finish which complements the sweetness nicely. In between, some citrus and lots of minerality. Nice acidity. This would work with citrus based desserts well or in a small glass on its own. No hurry, this has at least a decade left i
This took about an hour to open and then was drinking great. It is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 4.5% Petit Verdot and 3.5% Cabernet Franc. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis, cigar box and cherries. On the palate, this is full bodied. Ripe fruit. Lighter tannins. Flavors of Cherries with some cassis, chocolate and clean(er) barnyard. Good finish. This is about at peak now but should be here for at least another five to seven years. It will go well with roasted meats or fowl.
This was a very nice bottle. It was clean and must have been well stored all of these years. Ruby in color. The nose has red berries (kind of a cross between cherries and raspberries) with slight violets, roasted herbs and a bit of black pepper. On the palate, this has some depth and a bit of complexity. At or slightly past peak (perhaps) but drinking wonderfully. Cherries with roasted herbs and slight forest floor. Good acidity. Nice finish. No hurry but it won't get better and should probably be consumed in the next five to seven years though it will last longer. It will go with
I love Beaujolais. At least the Cru wines. They are versatile, friendly and although not everyone agrees, the best ones age wonderfully. So, when at a friends house for dinner recently and he had prepared a Cauliflower dish with pesto that seemed a difficult food match, I suggested he open this. A good choice. Deep ruby in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose has cherries, plums, spice and some barnyard. On the palate, there are cherries with slight almonds and slightly dry tannins which all worked together in a good way. Good acidity. Nice finish.
What a killer white wine. This was even better than the 2016 and 2013. Deep golden in color. The nose has smoke, lemons, floral notes and white peaches. On the palate, this is full bodied with a zesty acidity. There is a lemon cream quality to it not too unlike a nice Chard but also peaches with underlying minerals. This is a big wine but with enough energy to pull it off. It does have a bit of an acidic bite on the finish right now. It is delicious and worked great with a pea.
