Tag Archives: melon de bourgogne

Update: Porch wine for the long, hot summer

porch wine
“I found the porch — you bring the wine. What does the WC suggest?”

With record temperatures in much of the country this summer, it’s time to update the blog’s porch wine post

Over the years, I’ve gotten less than favorable comments about the idea of porch wine — because, of course, wine is entirely too serious for porch sipping. Sigh. Is it any wonder I worry about the future of the wine business?

Which is just more wine snobbery. Why should the pleasure of a shaded porch and the hint of a cool breeze be reserved for iced tea, beer, and whatever else is currently popular? I find the idea of porch wine especially relevant this summer, what with the record-breaking heat in much of the country, the pandemic, and all of the other foolishness we have had to endure. So, this porch wine update.

So know this about porch wine: It’s 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 it’s OK to add an ice cube. Honest.

• The Beachhouse Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($10, purchased, 13%): This white is a simple, not too grapefruit-y South African sauvignon blanc, which has an almost pleasant bitterness in the back. The minute I tasted it, I knew it was perfect for this post. Imported by Pacific Highway Wines & Spirits

• Moillard Chablis Coquillage 2018 ($25, purchased, 13%): Yes, this is expensive (though without the Trump tariff, the price may come down). But it’s also a perfect porch wine — well-made chardonnay from the Chablis region of France that is flinty, lemony, crisp. Imported by Advantage International

• Stemmari Sicilia Rose 2019 ($8, purchased, 12%): There’s nothing especially Italian about this pink; it’s just well-made rose in the international style — think Washington state. That means fresh, fruity (strawberry), and clean, but not much esle. Still, it is more than enjoyable. Imported by Prestige Wine Imports

• Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet 2019 ($16, purchased, 12%): Well-executed French white (made with the underrated melon de bourgogne grape) that is round in the mouth, but not soft. There’s a bit of structure and apple and pear fruit. Imported by LDM Wines

Photo: “Porch” by sonjalovas is licensed under CC BY 2.0

More about porch wine:
• Memorial Day and rose 2021
• Wine when the air conditioning is replaced
• Wine of the week: Vinho verde 2021
• Wine of the week: Vision Gruner Veltliner 2019

Wine of the week: Chateau de la Ragotiere Muscadet 2019

Chateau de la Ragotiere MuscadetThe Chateau de la Ragotiere Muscadet is a French white that offers more than simple pleasure at a more than fair price

The Wine Curmudgeon appreciates Muscadet, the white wine made with the goofily-named melon de bourgogne grape, and would drink it often if it was more readily available. So those of you who figure the wine world ends with chardonnay, save for a brief visit to sauvignon blanc every once in a while, can skip this and wait for tomorrow’s post.

Why my affection for Muscadet? Because it’s cheap, usually well made, and offers a glimpse of all of the amazing wines in the world – if we’re willing open our minds.

Case in point is the Chateau de la Ragotiere ($13, purchased, 12.5%), which is a fair value even at this price. Imagine it at $10 in a tariff-less world.

Melon de bourgogne wines are not necessarily complex, but even the simple ones are usually worth drinking. The Chateau de la Ragotiere is not simple by any means – surprisingly rich and full for a Muscadet, thanks to extended aging in the winery (another bonus for the price). Look for some lemon and soft apple fruit mingling with more minerality than I expected.

Highly recommended. Drink this on its own as the weather warms up, and it’s also a wine to pair with seafood that is a little more complex than grilled shrimp – something with a pan sauce, for instance, using the wine.

Imported by Vineyard Brands

 

Wine of the week: Michel Armand Muscadet 2018

Michel Armand MuscadetThe Michel Armand Muscadet is $10 wine that shows you know what makes a quality cheap wine

The Jacques Pepin video that ran on the blog last month talked about finding quality $10 wine, which is more than possible “if you know what to buy.” Which is where the Michel Armand Muscadet fits in.

This French white wine from the Muscadet region in the Loire near the Bay of Biscay is made with a less known grape called melon de burgogne. Not surprisingly, the grape has nothing to do with melons or Burgundy or muscat; in fact, it may be best known for its difficulty in making quality wine. Nevertheless, there’s a long history of quality, affordable Muscadets.

In other words, exactly the kind of wine Pepin is talking about – an everyday wine that tastes as it should and offers much more than $10 worth of value. The Michel Armand Muscadet ($10, purchased, 12%) is crisp, flinty, and almost herbal, with a bit of stone fruit. It’s not fat or sloppy or overdone or any of those things that we’re supposed to want in white wine, but deceptively simple and intriguing.

In this, the Michel Armand reflects a wine tradition that we often forget about. It comes from a coastal region of France, so it’s made to go with the local seafood. I also paired it with a Pepin appetizer, goat cheese toasts, and the wine was gone almost as quickly as the food.

Highly recommended, and almost certain to enter the Hall of Fame in a couple of months – and don’t be surprised to see it on the shortlist for the 2021 Cheap Wine of the Year.

Imported by Knows Imports

Wine of the week: Domaine de Beauregard Muscadet 2016

Beauregard MuscadetThe Domaine de Beauregard Muscadet is cheap, enjoyable French white wine as summer arrives

The irony of today’s wine world of plenty is that the plenty for most of us is plenty of chardonnay, plenty of sauvignon blanc, and plenty of pinot grigio. If we want something else white, and we don’t have a quality local retailer, we’re stuck. Because wines like the Beauregard Muscadet are worth drinking.

The Domaine de Beauregard Muscadet ($10, purchased, 12%) is from the French region of Muscadet de Sevre-et-Maine and made with the wonderfully named melon de bourgogne grape. It’s an unpretentious, weeknight dinner kind of wine that the French have been drinking for a couple of centuries, but that has not received the attention it deserves in the U.S. Because, of course, we have chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and pinot grigio.

The Beauregard Muscadet is everything this kind of wine should be – an almost floral aroma, a little lemon fruit, a softish middle, and some minerality on the finish. It’s an ideal warm weather and porch wine to chill and enjoy – lighter, lower in alcohol, and incredibly versatile. Drink it on its own, or with almost any summer dinner – roasted chicken breasts and couscous, for one, or even crabcakes.

In this, it’s $10 wine that won’t win any awards, but will make the people who buy it quite happy. And that should be the goal for every wine, shouldn’t it?

Imported by Weygant-Metzler