Tag Archives: Moulin de Gassac

Wine of the week: Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rouge 2021

Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rouge bottle
Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rouge 2021/$9-$15

This French red blend illustrates what weeknight dinner wine should be

Moulin de Gassac makes a red, white, and rose. All are especially impressive — $10 or so, varietally correct, and decent availability

The red, though, has always impressed me the most. That’s because it does something seldom seen in red wines at this price – it tastes like it’s supposed to taste.

Consider the 2021 vintage ($12, purchased, 13%): It’s a Rhone-style blend from southern France (50 percent syrah, 30 percent grenache, and 20 percent carignan), but it’s not too jammy or too soft despite all that syrah and grenache. Even more impressive: The three wines are made for export, and could have tried to appeal to the so-called American palate. Instead, they taste like wine.

That means the red has some spice, some berry fruit, and soft tannins — all in balance. It’s dry and not smoooth; rather, it’s the kind of wine for a summer barbecue (or a pot roast in the winter). In this, it’s weeknight dinner wine, a concept Europeans have understood for more than a century but which Americans have always struggled with.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2024 Turner award for cheap wine of the year.

Imported by Palomar Imports

Wine of the week: Moulin de Gassac Guilhem White 2020

Moulin de Gassac Guilhem White 2020
Moulin de Gassac Guilhem White 2020/$9-$15

Add the Moulin de Gassac Guilhem white to the list of terrific cheap wines that I haven’t raved enough about

Call this mea culpa month on the blog, since I seem to be writing about wines I’ve always liked but never quite given the accolades they deserved. This week, it’s the $10 or so wines from a French producer, Moulin de Gassac.

I’ve written about the Gassac Guilhem red, white, and rose wines since 2014, but never really put them in any kind of perspective. Once, I even wrote they were from Gascony, when they’re from the Languedoc. So consider this review, for the Moulin de Gassac Guilhem White 2020 ($12, purchased, 12%) an acknowledgment that the wines are Hall of Fame quality and well worth buying.

The Gassac white is a blend that includes terret, which most of us have never heard of; the much unappreciated grenache blanc; and vementino, an Italian grape grown throughout southern France, where it’s sometimes known as rolle.

So no, this doesn’t taste like chardonnay.

Instead, it has some spice, some stone fruit, and a bit of tartness. I wouldn’t say it’s oily, which sometimes happens with grenache blanc wines, and it’s not crisp like sauvignon blanc. Instead, it’s full and almost rich (the winery’s tasting notes use the term fleshy, which seems accurate.)

Drink this with grilled or fried fish (catfish, maybe?). Highly recommended, and almost certain to enter the Hall of Fame next month. And don’t be surprised if it makes the short list for the 2022 Cheap Wine of the Year.

Imported by Beaune Imports

Mini-reviews 121: Even more rose reviews 2019

rose reviews 2019Reviews 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, six rose reviews 2019 in honor of the blog’s 12th annual rose fest.

• The 12th annual Memorial Day and rose 2019 post

• La Vieille Ferme Rose 2018 ($7, purchased, 13%): This French pink is not what it was in 2017, when it was among the best roses of the season. The 2018 is a little thinner and less interesting, and the fruit doesn’t jump like it did last year — probably from poorer quality grapes. But it’s still dry, still worth $6 or $7, and still worth buying. Imported by Vineyard Brands

• La Galope Comté Tolosan Rose ( $10, purchased, 12%): Once again, $10 buys quality rose — this, time from the French region of Gascony. There is a little tart cherry fruit, some flintiness, and it’s fresh, and clean. Highly recommended. Imported by Bridge Imports

• Gianni Masciarelli Rosato 2017 ($11, purchased, 12.5%): Beautiful, zesty, and refreshing, this Italian pink shows off montepulciano, not all that common as a rose grape. Highly recommended, and an example of how rose technical quality has improved so dramatically that some older vintages remain delicious. Imported by Vintus

• Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rose 2017 ($10, purchased, 12.5%): This French pink, made mostly with grenache, is yummy and delicious — another 2017 that has more than held up (though the 2018 is available in some areas). Surprising structure and depth, with tart strawberry fruit and crisp, fresh, and minerally on the finish. Highly recommended. Imported by Pioneer Wine Co.

• Paul Mas Cote Mas Aurore 2017 ($10/1 liter, purchased, 12.5%): This is more than competent, Provence-style rose (barely ripe red fruit, a hint of garrigue, clean finish) in a liter bottle, so there are two extra glasses. What more do we need? (The 2018 should be available in some areas.) Imported by Espirit du Vin

• Castle Rock Pinot Noir Rose 2018 ($10, sample, 13.5%): The kind of California wine that used to be common, but now is but a distant memory — well-made but affordable and decent availability. Look for a little orange zest to go with the barely ripe strawberry fruit.

Labor Day wine 2016

Labor Day wine 2016Four refreshing wines to enjoy for Labor Day

Labor Day means three things: The beginning of the end of the Texas summer (which wasn’t too bad this year, save for one week); the annual the Kerrville Fall Music Festival; and a chance to remind wine drinkers that warmer weather means lighter wines. Hence Labor Day wine 2016.

This is a notion that wine drinkers are happily embracing, if my email is any indication – the idea that heavy, alcoholic, and tannic wines don’t go with 90 degree temperatures. Rather, the goal is wine that is refreshing, since you’re likely to drink it outdoors at a picnic or barbecue. Plus, these wines should be food friendly, because you’re probably going to drink them with a holiday dinner or lunch.

These four bottles of Labor Day wine 2016 (Google overlord alert) should help you find something lighter and fresher for the holiday:

• Domaine Guillaman 2015 ($9, purchased, 11.5%): This white Gascon blend (including, oddly enough, chardonnay) is remarkably consistent from year to year. More toward the sauvignon blanc style of white Gascon blends, it’s ideal for chilling and porch drinking.

• Moulin de Gassac rose 2015 ($10, purchased, 12%): This French pink wine shows why rose is such a terrific value – not too much red fruit, crisp, fresh, and lively. And it will pair with almost anything at a Labor Day barbecue.

• Gran Baron Cava Brut NV ($10, purchased, 11.5%): Simple but value-oriented Spanish sparkling wine with lots of tight bubbles and apple and citrus fruit. Probably somewhere between Cristalino and Segura Viudas in quality, and its probably a little softer than I like.

• Catena Malbec 2013 ($24, sample, 13.5%): One of the best Argentine malbecs I’ve ever had. The black fruit (blueberries?) doesn’t overwhelm the wine, and it remains balanced, not too heavy or cloying, and surprisingly enjoyable. Red meat wine, and especially pork barbecue. The price may be problematic, though it’s probably worth this much.

For more on Labor Day wine:
• Labor Day wine 2015
• Labor Day wine 2014
• Labor Day wine 2013
• Porch wine for the long, hot summer

Wine of the week: Moulin de Gassac Guilhem 2014

Moulin de Gassac GuihemThe Wine Curmudgeon’s crankiness, as regular visitors here know, is not an act. It’s because I am forced to taste so much insulting wine that is sold by retailers who don’t care as long as they make their numbers. Hence $8 wine with a $15 price tag and private label junk dressed in winespeak and a cute label.

So when I find something like the Moulin de Gassac Guilhem ($12, purchased, 12.5%), I buy two bottles. Or even more. This is cheap white wine – and French cheap white wine at that – that reminds us what cheap white wine is supposed to taste like. And that it is made with the little known grenache blanc and the even more obscure clairette doesn’t hurt, either. Take that, fake oak chardonnay!

Look for amazing acidity, tempered by just enough white fruit (barely ripe pears?) and a certain white pepper spiciness. It’s easy to tell that the producer, best known for some highly-rated and pricey wines from southern France, cares about the cheap stuff, too.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2017 $10 Hall of Fame.