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

NV Pierre Paillard Champagne Grand Cru Extra Brut Les Parcelles, France, Wine Review

Score: 
92
Grade: 
A-
Current Price: 
$40.00USD

Great label with lots of info.  The base wine for this NV wine is 2013.  it is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay.  This bottle was disgorged on 04/2018.  It is also a really good wine.  Medium gold in color.  The nose has apples, honey, and slight ginger and minerals.  On the palate, this has a nice backbone of acidity.  Tart apple fruit.  Lots of depth and complexity.  Long finish.  This is drinking well now and should for at least the next five to seven years.  It will work with just about any food.  

2015 Chartron et Trébuchet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embazées, France, Burgundy, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2015
Score: 
88
Grade: 
B+
Current Price: 
$95.00USD

Served to a group blind.  I thought it was a bit oxidized (just slightly) which is worrisome.  The group guess was California although I leaned to a more modern, bigger Chablis.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has some lemons with oak/spice but a streak of apple cider.  Not fresh apples thought perhaps that was there too.  On the palate, apples with some cider notes.  Slightly oily texture (which is why I thought Burgundy).  Some viscosity.  Slightly flabby.  It was likely the oak and the lack of acid that led the group into thinking it was from California.  OK finish. 

MV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée Edition 167eme, France, Wine Review

Score: 
97
Grade: 
A+
Current Price: 
$168.00USD

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.

2016 Domaine des Pierres Seches St. Joseph Sainte-Epine, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2016
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$47.00USD

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.  

2013 Château Coutet, France, Bordeaux, Sauternes, Barsac, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2013
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$50.00USD

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.  

NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier

Score: 
90
Grade: 
A-
Current Price: 
$35.00USD

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.  

2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Haut-Lieu, France, Loire Valley, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2002
Score: 
94
Grade: 
A

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

2002 Domaine des Baumard Coteaux du Layon Carte d'Or, France, Loire Valley, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2002
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A

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

2003 Château Branaire-Ducru, France, Bordeaux, St. Julian, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2003
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A
Current Price: 
$74.00USD

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. 

1999 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
1999
Score: 
92
Grade: 
A-
Current Price: 
$70.00USD

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

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