Domaine de la Presidente Cotes du Rhone 2015

Tags

cotes du rhone, France, french, french wine, red, red wine, red wine review, review, wine

Winery: Domaine de la Presidente
Varietal: Cotes du Rhone
Composition:

Date Purchased: 5/13/2017
Location Purchased: Total Wine
Cost: $8.65
Date Consumed: 6/18/17

Review/Notes: Right out of the bottle this one wasn’t blowing me away with utter awesomeness. By the second glass it wasn’t as bad? Maybe it needed some air, maybe after a couple rum drinks and a glass of wine my palate is much less persnickety? It was ok with dinner but despite the label’s promise, I am not amazed by its complexity. Sadly we have not yet found the really awesome bottle of French wine that costs less than $10…it’s entirely possible that such a thing does not presently exist. We will keep looking though.

(Black Sheep) Le Grand Pinot Noir 2015

Tags

budget, France, pinot noir, red, red wine, red wine review, review, wine, wine review, wine reviews

We picked up a couple bottles of this one BOGO at Publix last week. We decided to try it out tonight with some fried zucchini and pasta with a sausage, tomato, carrot, zucchini, and onion red sauce. It was nice with the fried zucchini but didn’t really have the heft to stand up to an acidic, and slightly spicy, pasta sauce. It is still a nice bottle though, light with a little fruit and not too sweet. Looking forward to drinking the other bottle with something other than red sauce.

Taittinger La Francaise Brut NV

Tags

champagne, France, reims, sparkling wine, wine, wine review

Winery: Taittinger
Varietal: Brut
Composition: 40% Chardonnay, 60% Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier

Date Purchased: 5/13/2017
Location Purchased: Total Wine
Cost: $46.99
Date Consumed: 5/14/2017

Review/Notes: We uncorked this one festively for Mother’s Day. Mom seemed to enjoy it. It’s a nice bottle, pretty subtle, nothing really overwhelming the palate. I really enjoyed how crisp it was but it really should be, shouldn’t it? In any event, great bottle, wouldn’t turn it down in the future.

Chateau L’Oiseau Bordeaux 2014

Tags

bordeaux, France, french, red, red wine, red wine review, review, vieilles vignes, wine, wine reviews

Winery: Chateau L’Oiseau
Varietal: Bordeaux
Composition:

Date Purchased: 10/2/2016
Location Purchased: Total Wine
Cost: $9.99
Date Consumed: 3/20/17

Review/Notes: Uncorked this one to celebrate Monday being mostly done. I was making some pasta and feeling the need for an old world red. First impressions were that this one is rather dry. It has some depth to it, which I like, but not much brightness. I would almost describe it as earthy. Probably not really a spring wine.

It was a bit tinny with the red sauce. As the bottle has been open longer and we’ve had more wine it definitely seems more full on the palate. Definitely more agreeable as the bottle wears on…

Chateau Planeres Cotes du Roussillon 2014

Tags

Cotes du Roussillon, France, french, red, red wine, red wine review

Winery: Chateau Planeres
Varietal: Cotes du Roussillon
Composition:

Date Purchased: 11/20/2016
Location Purchased: World Market
Cost: $7.99
Date Consumed: 3/7/2017

Review/Notes: This one got stuck with some pasta with red sauce, it was not my favorite out of the box (or bottle). The red sauce didn’t go super great with it, the acidity wasn’t fantastic with this wine. Not a huge amount of fruit or body to it but it was nice and wet. 

I’m still looking for that great bargain French wine, still haven’t found it. Any suggestions?

Terrasses de Cabrio Saint Chinian 2012

Tags

France, french, red, red wine, red wine review, saint chinian

Winery: Cave de Roquebrun
Varietal: Saint Chinian
Composition:

Date Purchased: 11/20/2016
Location Purchased: World Market
Cost: $8.79
Date Consumed: 1/10/2017

Review/Notes: The cork did not want to come out of this one, it got a little mangled on the way out so I employed the butler’s corkscrew to finish the job. It smelled a little wonky at first, what with the cork and all I was worried it might be off but the first sip was deep and complex? Maybe it wasn’t complex but the first gulp was nice either way. 

For dinner there was rice and sautéed zucchini with some chicken with a nice onion gravy/sauce that was light and really good (if I do say so myself). The wine worked pretty well with all of that. This wine has a bit of bite to it, a bit acidic. It’s not particularly sweet or fruity. Just nice. 

And now Paul Simon is singing about 50 ways to leave your lover and that is making me a bit nostalgic, Pandora is really bringing it tonight with the playlist. But I digress.

My glass is pretty much empty right now so I can come up with no more wine wisdom at this moment. 

Charles de Fere Cuvee Jean Louis Blanc de Blancs NV

Tags

Blanc de Blancs, Brut, cuvee, France, french, non vintage, sparkling, sparkling wine

Winery: Charles de Fere
Varietal: Blanc de Blancs Brut
Composition:

Date Purchased: 11/20/2016
Location Purchased: World Market
Cost: $8.79
Date Consumed: 11/26/2016

Review/Notes: This one got popped after unpacking the car from a long trip. Never tasted sweeter. The cork had a great sort of yeasty, bready smell to it. I’m really enjoying the balance of this one, nice and crisp with a hint of fruit to it. It’s got good acidity and not too much sweetness. I’m really glad we have another bottle of this one out there…

Chateau Bellevue Bordeaux 2014

Tags

bordeaux, France, french, red wine, red wine review

Winery: Chateau Bellevue
Varietal: Bordeaux
Composition: 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc

Date Purchased: 11/19/16
Location Purchased: Total Wine
Cost: $9.99
Date Consumed: 11/24/2016

Review/Notes: It was a busy day of drinking. Thanksgiving. Enough said. This one came out after the cranberry mimosas (also known as poinsettias, though this is a pointless and needlessly seasonal name in my opinion). The bottles had been living in the booze travel crate on the floor of our cabin in North Carolina and this one was nicely chilled when we popped the cork. Not the most appropriate temperature methinks. Happily it was tabled in favor of some Chardonnay during the meal. After the meal and some forced family picture taking I was ready for some more wine and since this bottle was already opened I felt compelled to finish it off. It was better after warming up a little bit and also after drinking a lot of other things but I suppose that when you are paying $9.99 for a Bordeaux you are going to get $9.99 worth of Bordeaux. There are probably better bargains out there from different regions.

This one is a little thin and slightly acidic. Probably doesn’t pair wonderfully with turkey or pie or casserole… It smells ok though. On the plus side we do have another bottle of it so that might be fun…

Chateau Bois Redon Bordeaux 2014

Tags

bordeaux, France, red, red wine, red wine review, review, wine, wine review, wine reviews

Winery: Chateau Bois Redon
Varietal: Bordeaux
Composition: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon

Date Purchased: 10/2/2016
Location Purchased: Total Wine
Cost: $10.99
Date Consumed: 11/10/2016

Review/Notes: Ahhhh Friday! This one got opened up to go with a sort of French-inspired dinner of steak frites and julienned carrots with a sherry cream sauce. The good news is that it is better than the last wine we had! You can smell the fruit when you get your nose down in there but it doesn’t come across quite so well on the palate. It’s a bit acidic and almost busy when I taste it. Doesn’t seem to have a lot of depth. I was kinda hoping for more…we shall see how I feel at the end of the bottle. 

As the bottle winds down I’m not opposed to this one, it’s almost a little spicy. Maybe not robust enough for steak frites though. 

Chateau Belingard Bergerac Rouge 2014

Tags

bergerac, dordogne, France, french, red wine, red wine review, wine is good, wine reviews

Winery: Chateau Belingard
Varietal: Bergerac Red
Composition: 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec

Date Purchased: 10/2/2016
Location Purchased: Total Wine
Cost: $9.99
Date Consumed: 10/20/2016

Review/Notes: I was intrigued but concerned by the merlot content of this one when we bought it. I decided to uncork it to go along with some Swedish meatballs and I think it worked out pretty well. It wasn’t overwhelmingly merlot, nicely balanced. This one wasn’t too fruity and not overly acidic. Seems like a pretty good value red. We don’t drink a lot of French wine, not sure why, maybe because it seems too obvious. It’s fun to find some good values out there though. 

When I lived in France with a host family in college we drank table wine out of a carafe every night with dinner, no idea what it was but it was excellent, and probably a good value as well. I miss the Metivier family, I hope I was as entertaining to them as they were amazing hosts to me.