Tasting Notes, Tour de France; Jan 25, 2020

2016 Vincent Girardin ‘Les Vieilles Vignes’ Mâcon-Fuissé 

Burgundy

Regular Price $26.99

Sale price $19.99

100% Chardonnay, fermented and aged in large oak barrels (only 10% new) gives this wine some oak seasoning (rather than flavoring) to compliment the ripe pear and tart apple flavors abounding. Its generous and full but not over-the-top, rather offering balancing and cleansing citric acidity as it finishes. 

2017 Domaine Gassier ‘Nostre Pais’ Blanc

Southern Rhone

Regular Price $27.99

Sale price $22.99

Made from 45% Grenache Blanc, 30% Roussanne, and the rest Clairette, Viognier, and Bourboulenc, this is a lush and creamy white with stone fruit and citrus and honeysuckle and enough acidity to balance the whole. Tastier than it has any right to be.

2015 Georges Descombes Brouilly Vieilles Vignes

Beaujolais

Regular Price $43.99 

Sale price $34.99

Here we go again. Another traditionally made wine using organic grapes, indiginous yeasts, slow fermentation and no additional sulfur dioxide. Must be new and ‘natural’ and found only in Brooklyn, where the cool kids shop. Or, here, where wines like this are so typical we insist upon calling them ‘wine’. Anyway, as with many Beaujolais (everyone hates them until they taste them), this wine will win over the snobs because its full and broad shouldered and rich and fruity. And delicious.

2014 Olga Raffault ‘Les Picasses’ Chinon

Loire

Regular Price $39.99

Sale price $31.99

This is one of the greatest wines (and wineries) that most people have never heard of. Made of 100% Cabernet Franc, from a steeply sloped vineyard of 60+ year old vines, this wine is just incredibly versatile; age-worthy, food friendly and pleasurable. Medium bodied yet with plenty of tannic structure, the wine is all about plums and berries and  black olives and white pepper, with hints of minerality sneaking through. It may also be the best age worthy wine for the money around.

2015 Confidences de Prieure-Lichine Margaux

Bordeaux

Regular Price $44.99

Sale price $35.99

This is the second label of the revered Chateau Prieure-Lichine, made from the same vineyards, but of younger vines and is Merlot dominate, rather than Cabernet Sauvignon. However, none of that is necessarily bad news; the vines are still 25+ years old, the grapes are not picked at California-level ripeness and there is no new oak used in the 14 month of aging. The resulting wine is rich and balanced, and certainly recognizable as from Bordeaux. No, I’m not damning it with faint praise.

2017 Domaine Bernard Gripa Saint-Joseph

Northern Rhone

Regular Price $62.99

Sale price $49.99

Fully flavored, classic Northern Rhone Syrah. Dense and somewhat tannic but not plodding with refreshing acidity. It’s pretty complex, with floral and earthy notes complimenting the black fruits. Perhaps best known for their Saint-Joseph Blanc, this father and son team continues to make outstanding wines in a traditional and age-worthy style.