It’s cold and dreary. The sun barely peeks out – and when it
does, it’s not much of a help warming things up. These are richer food days, my
friends. For me, richer food calls for wine with a backbone of earth – and that
leads me instinctively to one place – France.
My French wine palate perks up in the winter, because these
wines go so nicely with foods that have some heft to them. Butter, mushrooms,
rich meats and root veggies – French wine is a lovely accompaniment to those
sorts of flavors, generally.
(Now, I admit – I do try to cook in at least a reasonably
healthy manner. It’s not beef bourguignon every night of the week, and what I
and the SPinC consider rich these days might be a bit of a stretch. But we feel
like it’s rich – so there.)
The good folks at Bourgeois Family Selections – one of my
favorite importers of reasonably-priced French wine – recently sent along a
four pack of their latest offerings. Bourgeois does a good job finding solid
biodynamic and sustainable wines. We knocked the chill off our bones and
cracked these over the period of a week or so. Here’s what we found:
Domaine des Gerbeaux
2012 “Le Clos” Macon-Solutre – Macon-Solutre is an area in Southern
Burgundy. You may have seen “Macon-Villages” – which is a Chardonnay made from
particular areas within the Macon region. Solutre is one of those areas. The
specific name of a village on a wine usually connotes a higher quality of
juice, and this was no exception. This wine reminded me of lemon custard – rich
and citrusy on the nose and body, but the finish leans out into a grapefruity,
minerally denoument that becomes more pronounced as it gets some air. There’s a
hint of smokiness, as well – even though this is an unoaked wine. I liked this
quite a bit. You should find it for around $17-20.
Chateau Les Ancres
2010 Bordeaux – Bordeaux, especially most value-priced Bordeaux, tends to
be made with a backbone of merlot. This one is no exception – it’s about 2/3
Merlot, with the rest mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. There’s 2% Cabernet Franc to
round it out. This wine really needs decanting – since at first sip, there’s
very little flavor. Have patience with this one. It started with a light flavor
of blackberry and cocoa, widened out across the midpalate with some nice smoke
and earth, and then landed with a tannic bag of hammers on the back of my tongue.
Once it opens up, there’s a surprising richness to it. With stews, superb,
especially for $11-13. And it goes better with chocolate than many Bordeaux.
Chateau La Faviere
2009 Bordeaux Superieur – “Bordeaux Superieur” is a wine sourced from
grapes grown anywhere in Bordeaux, but the process of the winemaking is a
little different. The reds with that moniker have somewhat higher alcohol
contents, are aged a little longer, and tend to be a littlemore complex than
standard Bordeaux. This wine, however, I didn’t get a chance to write many
notes on. The SPinC and I opened this before a dinner of roasted chicken in a
tarragon and butter sauce, and it was a splendid accompaniment. So splendid, in
fact, that we got to talking and laughing – and the next thing we knew, we’d
killed off the prettily embossed bottle. Take that for what it’s worth. I’d snag this again for
around $15.
Domaine de Chateaumar
2012 “Cuvee Bastien” Cotes-du-Rhone – I’ll admit to looking a little askance at
the name of this wine. Cotes-du-Rhone are generally blends, known as cuvees –
usually made up largely of varying amounts of Syrah and Grenache. This wine,
however, is 100% Grenache – so I assume it’s Grenache from a number of
different vineyards. I enjoyed the difference. This is a somewhat lighter-styled
Cotes-du-Rhone which I can imagine flexibly working with almost any food
pairing. Nice plum and berry flavors with enough weight and structure to be
interesting. We had this alongside a pecan-crusted trout with sautéed cabbage
with a cream sauce, and it worked quite nicely. Again, recommended at $13-15.
Stay warm out there!
