France: Wine, French Wine Regions, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, & More Profiled

2005 Château Fleur Cardinale, France, Bordeaux, Saint Emilion, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2005
Score: 
95
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$100.00USD

Gorgeous showing for this wine.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is wonderful with black cherries, chocolate, spice, cherries and slight funk.  Full bodied.  Lush texture.  On the palate, this is just about at maturity.  Plenty of vibrant fruit; cherries and black cherries but also starting to show some depth and complexity.  No hurry though.  This should drink well for another ten to twenty years.  Nice on its own, but better with food. Lamb would be a good match.

2006 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2006
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$100.00USD

Great showing for this bottle at age 17.  Purple in color with some ruby swirls, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is great with plums, black raspberries, worn leather, slight dried floral note and spice.  Full bodied.  Tannins mostly resolved.  On the palate, this is deep and complex.  Flavors of plums, raspberries with some spice.  This bottle is clean with just a bare touch of funk.  Nice finish.  Seemingly at peak, these bottles probably should be consumed in the next five to seven years.  Great on its own, this works better with food.  Chili or beef stew would be a nice match.  

2016 Roland Champion Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut, Chouilly Grand Cru, France, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$60.00USD

Golden in color with a lot of very small bubbles, clear and bright.  The nose is very nice with chalk, toast, and slight marzipan.  Full bodied.  Good balance.  On the palate, this is crisp with a very, very slight sweetness to it.  Chalk and slight dried citrus notes.  Long finish.  This has plenty of depth.  Drinking well now, this should drink well for seven to ten more years.  It is very food versatile and should go with just about any food.  It went very well with a spicy vegetarian pizza.  

2013 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2013
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$65.00USD

This is in a lovely place right now.  Deep ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is great with cherries, slight black cherries, violets, spices and just a hint of funk.  Full bodied.  Light tannins.  Great energy and balance.  On the palate, this is complex, layered and delicious.  Cherries and black cherries with some char, spice and earthiness.  Long finish.  This is just about at peak right now and should be at this level for five to eight more years, but this will drink well for another five to ten after that.  Great on its own, this will work 

NV J. Lassalle Chigny Les Roses Coteaux Champenois Rouge 1er Cru, France, Champagne, Wine Review

Score: 
91
Grade: 
A-

This is a still red wine (Pinot Noir) made in the Champagne region of France.  Garnet in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cinnamon, cherries, slight black cherry, and a bit of poblano pepper.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  Light tannins.  On the palate, this is a slightly watery, slightly bitter note that is unusual in a Pinot but also plenty of cherries and a bit of green pepper.  It is a very good wine, but it is also one of the more interesting Pinots I have had.  There is a nice complexity.  It was served with a bunch of wines, and this would be fascinating to drink on i

2017 La Pousse d'Or Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret, France, Burgundy, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2017
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$165.00USD

Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is smoky with lemon notes.  Medium to full bodied.  Slightly oily texture.  On the palate, lemons and lemon candy with a bit of minerality.  A bit lower in acidity than expected but enough.  Nice finish.  This is drinking well now and should continue for another ten to twelve years.  It drinks well on its own but is better served with food.  This would be nice with grilled Salmon.  

2001 Louis Latour Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Grand Cru, France, Burgundy, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2001
Score: 
95
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$400.00USD

Great showing for this wine!  At age 21, it is showing just a bit of age.  No signs of any real oxidation (too old to be premox).  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with smoke, grapefruit, slight lemon and a bit of minerality.  A lovely, oily texture.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins which were surprising.  On the palate, this has a lemon hard candied quality to it with plenty of acidity to counter it.  Long finish.  Based solely on this bottle, this could  have gone another ten to fifteen years.  Good on its own, but better with food, this went very well with Baba Ghanoush

NV Vouette et Sorbée Champagne Fidèle Brut Nature, France, Wine Review

Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$74.00USD

Tasted from Magnum.  Although this is not vintage Champagne, I am told this is all 2017 vintage grapes.  The Brut Nature indicates this had zero dosage.  It is 100% Pinot Noir and went thru 100% Malolactic fermentation.  A very interesting and very good wine.  Golden in color with a slight copper hue.  Quite a bit of very tiny bubbles.  The nose has seltzer, melon, chalk and slight lemon.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this has a bit of sweetness to it which is likely just from ripe fruit (no easy task in 2017).  There is an herbal note along with melon and plenty of minerality.  This has a

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