Sunday, May 23, 2010

Two French Winners


Hello Wine Lovers!

Today I am going to treat you to two wines, a red and a white from Southern France... La Vieille Ferme Rouge and Blanc. Both of these little babies will set you back a whopping $6.99, are you kiddin me or what?

La Vieille Ferme Cotes du Luberon Vin Blanc 2008 - Fresh and clean, with nice melon notes and a nice lingering, stony and slightly earthy finish. Wine Spectator gave this wine 87 points and I give it the same rating.
The blend of 30% Grenache Blanc, 30%Bourboulenc, 30% Ugni Blanc and 10% Roussanne grapes (I realize you may not have heard of these grapes but they are the noble grapes of the Rhone Valley in France) has produced a typical Rhone Valley white that is soft, balanced and deliciously aromatic. The most important thing is that it falls in my category of ABC wines. (Anything But Chardonnay)

The Rouge is a blend of 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Carignan and 15% Cinsault. (again, grapes you more than likely have not heard of)
This blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault grapes has produced a typical Rhône Valley style; full of fruit and spice aromas, it has soft tannins and good body and slight minerals on the finish.

Both of these wines will knock your socks off! Go to your favorite wine shop, buy them as much as you can carry, go home, chill and enjoy!


Cheers!

J

Monday, May 17, 2010

Petite Sirah


Hello Wine Lovers!

Today's entry is a beautiful little number from Clarksburg California...PETS Petite Sirah and at $7.99 a bottle you will find this even more appealing!

Juicy fruit up front with blackberry and casis in the middle and a long lingering finish with slight tannins. This wine will stand up to food and will blow you away with its sophisticated structure. It has a lot of finesse for a wine at this price point.

The other really great thing about this wine is the wine maker, Ken Wilson is a pet lover and part of the profits of this wine are donated to the San Francisco SPCA animal shelter! How cool is that? You drink a great wine and you help out animals in San Francisco!

A little history on the grape.

The grape was named after Francois Durif, a botanist at the University of Montpellier in France. (The grape is sometimes referred to as the Durif grape) Syrah was identified as the source of the pollen that originally crossed with Peloursin flowers. The grape's high resistance to mildew encouraged its cultivation in the early 20Th century but today is primarily grown in California and Australia. Depending where you are from depends on the spelling... in France Syrah, in Californina Sirah.

Go impress your friends with your new knowledge!

Cheers!

J

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Wine and France


Hello Wine Lovers.

Today I thought I would write about (in as few words as possible because you could easily write a book on the subject) what wine means to the French. I know, I know, who really cares? Well, if you like history at all you may want to read on.

I am not going back to the discovery of France, just back to WW II. Recently the French government commissioned a study of what makes the French "French," or, as one scholar put ti, "to access what makes up French historical memory and identity." It was a vast work, in seven volumes. Part of it was a survey in which people were asked to define the qualities that made them French. Places one thru three were what you would expect: being born in France, defending liberty and speaking French. But right behind number three, wine, specifically knowing and appreciating "good" wine. The authors stated this was no surprise, "Wine is part of our history; it's what defines us."

In 1932 Hubert de Mirepoix, president of the French Winegrowers Association, gave a speech in which he described how wine "contributed to the French race by giving them wit, gaiety and good taste, qualities which set it profoundly apart from people who drink beer."


Well then! Hitler knew the way to defeat France was to take it's pride and "culture" away from them. Not their factories, their trains, their churches, their waterways, but their most prised possession, food and wine! If he took that away from them they would be so morally defeated they would surrender easily and without much of a fight. Well, they did surrender, but not without a fight, and Hitler and his armies took their food and wine away! Countless barbaric invasions of Burgundy, The Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Champagne and many more. Stole millions and millions of the world's greatest wines and stored them in caves. he gave them to his armies when they won and he gave it to them when they did not, the German soldier always had wine.

Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte were believers too. Napoleon even hauled wagon loads of champagne on his campaigns, most of the time anyway. It is said the reason for his defeat at Waterloo was that he did not have time to pick up any champagne and had to fight on Belgian beer alone.

Well we all know our history books, the world defeated Hitler and the French survived. The wine regions that were so badly destroyed are once again producing some of the best wines in the world. So the next time you meet a French person and you feel a tinge of arrogance... it is in their blood!

Ok Ok... the wine already!

2007 Mas Donis Barrica from Spain! It is a blend of 85% Garnacha (from vineyards over 80 years of age) and 15% Syrah. Aged for eight months in French and American oak, it was bottled without fining and filtration. It offers a bouquet of smoke, earth notes, clove, cinnamon, and black cherry. This leads to a wine with remarkable depth and concentration for its humble price, savory flavors, and a fruit-filled finish. This wine will set you back a whopping $9.99! Unbelievable!

Cheers!

J