Tag Archives: French wine

Wine of the week: La Chapelle du Bastion Picpoul 2021

La Chapelle du Bastion Picpoul de Pinet bottle
La Chapelle du Bastion Picpoul 2021/$10-$15

This French white, made with a lesser known grape, is just the thing for the end of summer

How do we know that picpoul, a French white grape, is just the thing for those of us looking for value and quality? Wine-Searcher, hardly shy about catering to the 1 percent (“The most expensive wines in the world”!), notes that almost all of the most popular picpouls on its site cost less than $15, and several are less than $10.

So yes, picpoul, for value and quality – even in these days of “we’re going to charge more just to charge more.”

Ironically, I’ve reviewed very few picpouls over the years. But now that I have started to do more, the La Chapelle du Bastion 2021 ($12, purchased, 13%) shows what I was missing when I didn’t taste enough of them.

The wine is less lipsmackingingly tart than picpoul is supposed to be (insert obligatory reference about picpoul’s meaning in English). Which, actually, is a pleasant surprise, since that leaves room for other qualities. Yes, it’s lemony, but there is also what seems to be some tropical fruit in the middle as well as a bone dry and long finish.

Highly recommended, and candidate for the Hall of Fame next year as well as the 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year. Chill this, drink it on its own or enjoy it with end of the summer grilled vegetables or chicken.

Imported by Monsieur Tonton Selection

 

Labor Day wine 2022

plates of marinated olives
A porch, chilled white wine, and plates of marinated olives. Yes, Labor Day.

Four wines to help celebrate Labor Day wine 2022

The Wine Curmudgeon pitched a Labor Day wine freelance story recently, and the editor was unimpressed. Her loss.

How could anyone not be ready for chilled wine — even the reds! — and sipped on a shaded place on the porch. And maybe some brats?

These four bottles will begin the holiday, but don’t be afraid to find your own — and don’t overlook the blog’s porch wine guidelines:

• Cantina Cellaro Luma 2019 ($12, purchased, 13%): Easily one of the best Sicilian nero d’avolas I’ve tasted in years — varietally correct, with dark, fresh, and almost plummy fruit, and even some substance and body. An honest wine, and not made to be smooth. Bring on the brats. Imported by Gonzalez Byass

• Trinennes Rose 2021  ($18, purchased, 12.5%): Yes, more money than I’d usually pay for rose, but well worth it. This is classic Provencal-stye rose — not much fruit (“wild strawberry”) and long and clean and stony. Missing garrigue, the herbal aroma, but that’s the only disappointment. Highly recommended. Imported by Sorting Table

• Garofoli Macrina 2020 ($13, purchased, 13%): This vintage of the Italian white isn’t as well rounded as the 2019, but there is still plenty of almonds, light citrus, and minerality on the finish. Bring on the olives. Imported by Garofoli USA

• Bellussi Prosecco NV ($13, purchased, 11%):  Soft but surprisingly structured extra dry Prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine (so sweet). There is appealing candied lemon fruit, lots and lots of almost creamy bubbles, and a clean finish. Much better than I expected. Imported by Misa Imports

Photo: v2osk on Unsplash

For more about Labor Day wine:
• Labor Day wine 2021
• Labor Day wine 2020
• Labor Day wine 2019
• Wine of the week: Shannon Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Wine of the week: Mont Gravet Rose 2021

Mont Gravet rose bottle
Mont Gravet Rose 2021/$7-$15

It’s Labor Day weekend, which means it’s time for this French pink

Yes, the Wine Curmudgeon tastes a lot of crappy wine. Yes, I have to deal with knucklehead PR people and talk to too many marketing types who think their brand is special because it’s their brand, all $25 and sweet, smooth of it.

So why do I keep doing this? Because I get to tell the blog’s readers – who care about wine in a way that almost no one else in wine does – about wines like this.

The Mont Gravet Riose 2021 ($10, purchased, 12%) is that kind of extraordinary wine. Each vintage, it delivers uncommon value and does so for around $10. Is it any wonder the Gravet rose has been in the Hall of Fame for almost as long as there has been one?

The 2021 is dry and very Provencal in nature — so wild strawberry fruit (but without the garrigue), stony, and clean. And, once again, it shows what the underappreciated cinsault, the grape used to make the wine, can do with rose.

What else to know? The Gravet is a step up from the blog’s beloved La Vieille Ferme pink, which is a recommendation in and of itself, and a reminder that you don’t need to spend more than $10 for great rose.

I wish all of those flocks of PR and marketing people could understood that – we’d all have more fun drinking wine.

Imported by Winesellers Ltd.

Mini-reviews 160: Elena Walch, Spanish monastrell, Jaboulet 45, Titus

woman holding wine bottles
“Quick — grab these wines. The WC didn’t hate everything.”

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the fourth Friday of each month. This month, four reds – three of which the WC liked

• Elena Walch Ludwig Pinot Nero 2018 ($40, sample, 13.5%): Earthy, savory Italian pinot noir that bears more than a passing resemblance to red Burgundy – go figure. The fruit is sort of raspberry and the tannins are very reserved. Intriguing wine, but not easy to find (in addition to parsing the cost). Imported by Walch USA

• Castillo del Barón Monastrell 2019 ($9, purchased, 14.2%): This Spanish red, made with monstrell, is reliable from vintage to vintage – not too big or too rough, the tannins aren’t too noticeable, and the black fruit fits in nicely. Just the thing for a hearty weeknight dinner. Imported by Europvin

• Paul Jaboulet Aîné Parallèle “45” 2018 ($15, sample, 14.5%): French Rhone red is legendary for its reliability. So spicy and full with very syrah-driven dark rich fruit. But it’s not too heavy or too ripe, and the alcohol doesn’t show. Needs food. Imported by Fruit of the Vines

• Titus Cabernet Franc 2019 ($52, sample, 14.5%): Gorgeous Napa fruit in this California wine that has been turned into a dark, sweetish, very fruity red that isn’t particularly cabernet franc in style and, as two reviewers noted on Cellar Tracjer (the blogs unofficial wine inventory app), is “smooth.” I want more for $52 than smooth.

Wine of the week: Two Birds One Stone 2019

Two Birds One Stone bottle
Two Birds One Stone 2019/$10-$12

Cheap French red wine that’s worth drinking – who knew it still existed?

I tasted the 2018 version of this wine last summer, and was impressed. It wasn’t quite wine of the week material, but it reminded me of the kind of everyday red wine that was common not all that long ago.

And, of course, no longer is.

So get out the debit cards, Bitcoin, and even cash — because the Two Birds One Stone 2019 ($10, purchased, 12.5%) is wine of the week material. It’s a fruitier and more polished effort than the 2018, and a noticeable step up in quality.

The wine is made with carignan, usually used for blending. That’s because the grape can be difficult to work with as a varietal since it has lots of tannins and acidity. These were noticeable in the 2018 (the wine geek term for the result is “rustic”), but are well under control in the 2019. In fact, it’s dark and deep in flavor, with lots of almost syrah-style black fruit and a finish that reminds me of the legendary Mont Gravet Carignan.

Drink this – and you can even chill it – with almost any summer roast, beef or chicken. There is apparently a 2020, but I haven’t seen it or tasted it.

Imported by Wine Circle Imports

 

Expensive wine 159: Les 13 Lunes Apremont 2020

les 13 lunes aprmeont bottle
Les 13 Lunes Apremont 2020/$20-$25

This French white speaks to the joys of wine, and that everything doesn’t have to taste like everything else

The Wine Curmudgeon rarely has to search for expensive wine to buy for this feature. For one thing, too many of the samples I get cost more than $25; for another, the few expensive wines I buy for my enjoyment are usually perfect fits for this review.

This month, though, I had nothing to write about. I tasted a dozen or so high-priced red wines over the past six weeks, and none of them were worth writing about. What’s worse, they all mostly tasted alike, even though they came from different parts of the world and were made with different grapes.

So I spent the past week trying to find something to taste for this review that wasn’t a smooth, high-alcohol red wine; that was sort of available; and would be something I could wax poetic about. Because I was tired of dumping expensive, smooth high-alcohol red wines down the drain.

Finally, I found the Les 13 Lunes Apremont 2020 ($24, purchased, 10.5%). So yes, Friday the 13th was lucky.

This is a stunning French white made with an unknown grape, jacquere, from an even less known region, Savoie, near the French Alps. So yes, geeky, and made even more so since it’s certified biodynamic. Ah, but how it tastes: Not quite chardonnay and not quite viognier, but something completely its own — almost savory, “alpine fresh,” to quote a tasting note, and with a hint of tart green apple fruit, a floral sort of aroma, and an impeccably clean finish. And did I mention just 10 1/2  percent alcohol?

I drank this with a half chicken marinated in lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil, and then roasted with carrots and onions. Anyone who doubts food and wine pairings would have doubted no more.

Highly recommended — even though it’s an $11 wine in France. That’s usually the kind of price disparity that makes me crazy, but, in this case, I’ll just buy another bottle.

Imported by Paris Wine Company

Porch wine 2022

Chairs on a front porch
Does the chicken have the ice cubes?

Once again, why porch wine matters — and bring the ice cubes

I usually don’t update the porch wine post every year, but this year is special — and not just because of the 100-plus temperatures in Dallas. And those of you in Dallas who are angry at the blog’s unofficial weather forecaster — don’t you have something better to do?

Rather, I’m updating the post this year because Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle, of the most important members of the Winestream Media, says it’s OK to put ice cubes in your wine.

Welcome to the fight, Esther.

Porch wine is about lighter wines, red and white (and of course, rose), that are lower in alcohol and that offer relief from the heat. The idea with a porch wine is to drink something that won’t make the sweat bead on your forehead. The blog’s original porch post is here, and there is even a porch wine terms post.

And keep the ice cubes handy. These four wines will get you started:

• Zestos Blanco 2020 ($12, purchased, 12.5%): This Spanish white is one of the all-time great cheap wines, and the 2020 vintage may be the best ever — subtle and interesting, with less tart white fruit and maybe even some spice. Sure to make the shortlist for the 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year. Highly recommended. Imported by Ole & Obrigador

• Librandi Segno Bianco 2020 ($12, purchased, 12.5%): Well-made, varietally correct Italian white that uses the little known greco bianco grape. That means some lemon fruit as well as very clean and very crisp, if a bit thin. Imported by Winebow

• Château Laulerie Bergerac Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 12%): Yummy cabernet sauvignon-based rose from southern France, with a little merlot to round it out. Almost raspberry fruit, some garrigue, and long on the finish, almost stony. Highly recommended. Imported by Skurnik Wines

• Brunellesco Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2019 ($10, purchased, 12%): This Italian red is much more savory and herbal than other wines from the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo region. The cherry fruit isn’t the only selling point. Highly recommended. Imported by Monsieur Tonton Selections

Photo: Taliesin vis Morguefile

More about porch wine:
• Memorial Day and rose 2022
• Update: Porch wine for the long, hot summer
• Wine of the week: Vinho verde 2022
• Wine of the week: Domaine Duffour Cotes de Gascogne 2020