Tag Archives: France

Château de Bellevue, Fleurie, 2016, France

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Château de Bellevue, Fleurie, 2016, France

Château de Bellevue, Fleurie, 2016, France

Buy a good Beaujolais is my advice and this one from Fleurie from Château de Bellevue is one of them better examples and certainly one that you should start drinking so you know what to least benchmark against.

It’s dry, light with good acidity you get aromas of red fruit but when you taste it it there there flavours of raspberry strawberry but with hints of chocolate, liquorice and hints of caramel and oak but all nice to balanced.M

My biggest regret is only having one bottle of this as it’s a really good example and at around £10 Super value.

Saint Péray, Grain de Silex, 2015, Rhone, France

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Saint Péray, Grain de Silex, 2015, Rhone, France

Saint Péray, Grain de Silex, 2015, Rhone, France

I do like a Rhône valley white but this one from Saint Peray has passed its best though, which is a shame because you can still taste what was.

You get hints of ripe citrus, grapefruit with honey on the nose and with flavours that follow on with peach, almond, melon with buttery notes and a grown up feel. It’s a very acidic wine dry but with good body and I suspect if I had drank this after 2 or 3 years from bottling it would have been a really excellent wine. So lesson learnt, don’t save what you think is great wine too long.

Charles Joguet, Silènes Chinon, 2012, Loire, France

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Charles Joguet, Silènes Chinon, 2012, Loire, France

Charles Joguet, Silènes Chinon, 2012, Loire, France

Charles Joguet, Silènes Chinon, 2012, Loire, France

Charles Joguet, Silènes Chinon, 2012, Loire, France

Charles Joguet makes some wonderful wines and I have been to the vineyard twice and tasted some of them. This 2012 Silènes Chinon, 2012 though should have been drunk a fee years ago.its not aged as I had hoped/ expected from a top producer making cabernet Franc wine. Theres little aroma of the red fruit, plum, tobacco and leather that should be there, the flavours are washed out with only hints of what should be. The tannins are there and the dryness too.

It’s a lesson to drink on an occasion rather than waiting for the perfect occasion.

 

 

Calmel & Joseph, Les Terroirs, 2019, Languedoc, France

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Calmel & Joseph, Les Terroirs, 2019, Languedoc, France

Calmel & Joseph, Les Terroirs, 2019, Languedoc, France

Made with Syrah Grenache and Carignan this is a full on red which packs plenty of aromas flavours. It’s a bold dry my red with decent hit of acidity. There’s aromas of tobacco and chocolate and and sour cherry, you’re getting additional flavours of BlackBerry and redcurrent.

At £12 a bottle us a bit expensive but it’s well made with good length.

Coteaux du Vendômois, Cuvée Prestige, 2014, Loire, France

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Coteaux du Vendômois, Cuvée Prestige, 2014, Loire, France

Coteaux du Vendômois, Cuvée Prestige, 2014, Loire, France

This Cuvée Prestige from Coteaux du Vendômois is an interesting red. It’s made from Pineau d Aunis, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc and has soft flavours of red fruits such as raspberry and redcurrant and is pretty dry but the tannins are soft and this makes it a very easy wine to drink, no food needed with this red. Try with lamb, duck or tomato sauce based pasta if having with food.

It’s only Eur6 a bottle which makes it great value.

 

Chateau Saint Martin, De la Garrigue, Gres de Montpellier, 2010, Languedoc, France.

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Chateau Saint Martin, De la Garrigue, Gres de Montpellier, 2010, Languedoc, France.

The late Jessica with a bottle of Chateau Saint Martin, De la Garrigue, Gres de Montpellier, 2010, Languedoc, France.

This chateau Saint Martin is another cracker from the Loire. Dry with a great deep purple colour and Aromas of stewed plums, spice and caramel and these follow through into the flavours. The flavours are full with well integrated tannins and excellent length.

At £20 a bottle it’s not cheap but you get what you pay for.

 

 

 

Coteaux du Vendômois, Montagne Blanche, 2016, Loire, France

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Coteaux du Vendômois, Montagne Blanche, 2016, Loire, France

Coteaux du Vendômois, Montagne Blanche, 2016, Loire, France

Coteaux du Vendômois, Montagne Blanche is a rose from the Loire, France and it’s quite typical of the roses from the region this is not to say a bad thing but it does differ from the typical Provence roses that people see in the market in the UK. This has a copper colour which would normally indicate big bold flavours but the flavours quite subtle and you get hints of raspberry, strawberry and red currant but the crispness and dryness is what is immediate.

This is a drinking wine and probably should have been drunk a year or two ago so I’m not going to put it down too much. It’s a easy drinking summer wine either with salad or on its own.

Domaine Richou, La Grande Selection, Loire, France

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Domaine Richou, la Grande Selection, Loire, France

Domaine Richou, la Grande Selection, Loire, France

I like Domaine Richou wines and this desert wine is interesting. It’s sweet but not sticky in the flavours are defined but not overpowering. You get some honey and apricot but these are subtle, there’s a little bit of oxidization but only a hints, but that’s because we’ve left it too long. The deep orange colour is quite unusual but this does not attract from wine.

 

Château Pierre-Bise, Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu, Clos de la Soucherie, 2005, Loire, France

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Château Pierre-Bise, Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu, Clos de la Soucherie, 2005, Loire, France

Château Pierre-Bise, Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu, Clos de la Soucherie, 2005, Loire, France

Sometimes there’s a wine that is so good, so yummy that you savour every drop and this Château Pierre-Bise, Coteaux du Layon-Beaulieu, Clos de la Soucherie, a desert wine is one of these.

Its got aromas of baked fruits, raisins and these just hang there. The taste is rich all round with the baked fruit coming though, its not overly sticky but each drop is full of flavour. I could go on about who fabulous this is but I would just drink it.

Wonderful with cheese or on its own.

Domaine de Pouzac, Grand Jacquey, 2013, Languedoc, France

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Domaine de Pouzac, Grand Jacquey, 2013, Languedoc, France

Domaine de Pouzac, Grand Jacquey, 2013, Languedoc, France

Domaine de Pouzac and its Grand Jacquey is a solid red wine from the Languedoc.

Dry with firm but soft tannins and aromas of black fruit and and earthiness, that at first puts you off but taste it and its a different matter. That smoothness is what puts this part from the rest. I had this with a tapas meat selection and it was a great balance.

At £15 a bottle its not cheap but its pretty good.