French red wine values tasted in 2011
The selected French bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. I would consider doing so even with a 50 percent mark-up. (My criteria are explained here.)
The below wines were tasted in France, in 2011 (between April and December). The tasting notes are listed by increasing prices, with the following format:
Appellation - producer - plot or brand - variety
Vintage - approximate price - general impression - on nose - on palate - after swallowing
Vin de pays d'oc - - [image de soleil sur l'étiquette] - Cabernet sauvignon
- 2 € -
Dia
Haut médoc - - Château du Breuil
2008 - 5.4 € - typical but with no pepper - reasonable élevage, ripe red fruit - onctuous, gentle élevage, the balance is food-friendly
Carrefour
Côtes de provence - Domaine de Jale - La Venne
2008 - 6.5 € - typical - red fruit - red fruit, aromatic, dense but juicy, much alcohol, food-friendly
Saint chinian - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Les Travers de Marceau
2010 - 6.5 € - typical, intense red fruit - dense, food-friendly
Saint chinian - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Le Chant de Marjolaine (carignan)
2009 - 7 € - too young - punchy, dries the mouth, a varietal background note, food-friendly
Vin de France - La Grange aux Belles - Le Vin de Jardin - grolleau
2010 - 7 € - tasted at low temperature, great purity of fruit - wax polish, gooseberry - red fruit, no pepper, fresh, happily gulping
Bordeaux - - L'Arpent - Cuvée des cerisiers
2007 - 7 € - fruity and flowing, no élevage - unripe cherry - astringent (draws mouth tissues together), pink grapefruit
Saumur champigny - Domaine Filliatreau - Domaine Filliatreau (Tradition)
2008 - 7.7 € - red fruit, green pepper - harmonious, red fruit, green pepper, juicy, standing firm
Anjou - Marc Houtin et Julien Bresteau - La Grange aux Belles - 53 - cabernet franc
2008 - 9 € - varietal but with no bell pepper - harmonious, a red fruit that would smell of raw red meat, full grape ripeness, no vegetal note, no trace of élevage - intense, dense, dries the palate, firm
Pic saint loup - Blandine Chauchat - Foulaquier - Les Tonillières
2009 - 8.7 € -
Morgon - Geneviève et Jean-Claude Chanudet - Domaine J. Chamonard
2008 - 10 € - delicious, intense - strawberry, brandy cherry, roast beef (reduction?) - strawberry, roast beef, juicy, less dense than the 2005, fresher than the 2006, a firm balance
Fleurie - G. Chanudet - La Madone
2008 - 10 € - cherry, blackcurrant - not onctuous, cherry, blackcurrant, a green note (incomplete grape ripeness), juicy, sharper than the Morgon, standing firm
Quarterly additions
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