France

• Alsace
• Bergerac
• Bordeaux
  • Barsac
  • Bordeaux Supérieur
  • Margaux
  • Graves
  • Haut-Medoc
  • Listrac
  • Pauillac
  • Pomerol
  • Saint Emilion
  • Saint Estephe
  • Saint Julian
  • Sauternes
• Burgundy
  • Beaujolais
  • Bourgogne
  • Chablis
  • Côte de Nuits
  • Mercurey
• Cahors
• Champagne
• Cognac
• Corsica
• Gascony
• Jura
  • Arbois
• Languedoc-Roussillon
  • Minervois
• Loire Valley
  • Bourgueil
  • Jasnières
  • Muscadet
  • Mont Louis
  • Sancerre
  • Saumur
  • Savennières
  • Touraine
  • Vouvray
• Rhone (Rhône)
  • Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  • Cornas
  • Crozes-Hermitage
  • Gigondas
  • Hermitage
  • Lirac
  • Saint Joseph
• Provence
  • Bandol
• Savoie
• Tavel

Muscadet's are some of the best values in the wine world.  This one sells for around $13.  Light golden in color.  The nose has a nice minerality along with crushed shells and some sea air.  A slight hint of lime peel.  Om the palate, there is a nice tart acidity.  Some green apple notes and a long finish. The classic pairing would be with oysters but this will work with a wide variety of lighter foods.   These are best drunk in their youth, i.e. Now!

This is always a great value.  Just a step up from the Cotes du Rhone and a bit deeper and darker.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has black raspberries, slight violets, cedar and pepper.  On the palate, this is juicy with bold black raspberry fruit.  Slight tannins.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  2015 was a great year in the Northern Rhone and value wines like this are a great play.  It should be good for the next five to seven years at least.  Great with stews, meats and spicier foods.  

It's always fun to try older Bordeaux's.  This one still had something to offer if a bit past its prime.  Ruby in color, with slight browning at the rim.  The nose offered cherries, dried cherries, slight stewed fruits and a nice tobacco funk.  On the palate, this has a nice complexity with cherry fruit over forest floor.  Good acidity.  If you own any, drink up soon.  It went well with all kinds of food.  

What a spectacular bottle of wine.  This will certainly be in the running for WOTY.  Pop and pour, it took around thirty minutes to really open.  Luckily, this was being share with just a couple of friends.  This wine is no longer the port-like monster of its youth.  It is still a big wine for Chave, but it is starting to have a certain control to it.  Purple/ruby in color.  The nose is amazing with black raspberries, violets, slight white pepper, minerals and earth.  On the palate, this has tight layers that unwind in the glass.  Black raspberries, white pepper and crushed rocks.  Long fin

Opened to watch the NCAA Championship Basketball game.  While still young, this is drinking nicely and provided a lot of enjoyment today.  Still, its best days are ahead and this should continue to improve.  Purple in color with ruby swirls.  On the nose, this has black raspberries, black pepper, slight bacon fat and slighter violets.  On the palate, this has firm tannins.  Juicy black raspberry fruit.  Showing layers of black raspberries, charcoal and earth.  Delicious.  Needs bigger foods.  This should easily last another decade and probably two.  

I seem to have had a lot of bottle variation with this one.  Or, given that this is usually the last bottle of the night, maybe it is palate variation.  In any event, this wine is always good to great and this bottle was in the middle.  Deep golden/orange in color.  The nose has honey and apricots.  On the palate, this is sweet but nowhere near cloying.  Enough acidity.  The honey notes come thru and pick up peaches.  Nice finish to the wine and to the evening!

Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is dusty with some black cherries and cigar box.  On the palate, there is some black cherry fruit.  No tannins to speak of.  Not much depth but some complexity.  Good acidity.  Classic aged Bordeaux although given the pedigree, more was expected.  Still, a fine wine to serve with dinner.  It is probably past prime and these should be drunk  up.  

This bottle was quite good.  There are some reports about the prematurely oxidizing or at least ageing quickly but this was the first time trying this vintage.  It is quite a deep golden color but that is not unheard of for Chenin.  The nose is very nice with aromas of pears, orange peel, slight copper note and a bit of honey.  Full bodied and slightly viscous.  Also slightly oily in texture.  Lots of great minerality with some background orange and pear.  Long finish.  This has a slight perception of being sweet but it seems dry.  Good acidity.  This worked great with some hummus and also

Always nice to have some Champagne at a dinner or party.  This is a reasonably priced bottle that drinks nicely.  45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier.  Light silvery gold in color.  A nice mousse with a fair amount of smallish bubbles.  The nose has hay, ginger and slight toast.  On the palate, this is reasonably crisp.  More mineral driven than fruit but some citrus.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  Very enjoyable and will go with most any food.  These should be purchased fresh and drunk in the first couple of years.  

This wine is pretty much at peak at this point but drinking quite well.  Pop and pour and it was drinking from the get go.  Purple in color with a slight ruby line at the rim.  The nose has cherries, a slight funk and just a hint of aquarium water.  It is better on the palate and more fresh.  juicy cherries with some complexity.  An underlying earthiness though clean.  The fruit is ripe.  No tannins.  While it drinks well on its own, it would be better with some medium or lighter fare.  The fruit is fresh enough to stand up to some spice as well.  These should be drunk up in the next few ye