French red wine values tasted in 2002

The selected French bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. Featured values include 7 bottlings from the Rhône Valley. You’ll learn the availability of wines if you enter a location name in the search box at the top of the page.
 

The below wines were tasted in France, in 2002 (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 - les producteurs réunis, 11100 Narbonne - Vieilli en fût de chêne - Cabernet sauvignon

2001 - 1.5 € - fun but unsubtle, well made but simple, perfect for a barbecue - a plain nose - a big impression in the mouth, healthy fruit holds out against the power of winemaking (impact, vanilla), balanced, no plant note

En supermarché

 Bordeaux - S.F.V. A F 69220 - Bordeaux

Non vintage - 1.7 € - a nose typical of Médoc: green pepper and the smell of an ivy patch when you tear it off the wall - a palate with tar, under-ivy, green pepper, not much dense but balanced - a short persistance

En supermarché

 Madiran - Denis Capmartin - Château Barréjat - (cubitainer)

Non vintage - 2 € - the (red) fruit shows more than in the Tradition cuvée, the wine is more open, and as pleasurable

 Vin de pays du Jardin de la France - Domaine de la Pépière - Marc Ollivier - Côt (= malbec)

2001 - 3.2 € - transparent wine-making - ice cream, sweet pepper - fur, fruity (like a fruit juice, not like a concentrate), light, pure - spicy

 Vin de pays du Pont du Gard - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Cuvée des galets - Non filtré

2001 - 3.5 € - a pleasant and easy guest, bursting with flavour, should be drunk this year - the nose is dominated by red fruit - the wine is dense in the mouth, candyish, velvety, fresh

 Côtes du rhône - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Domaine de Pierredon

2000 - 4.3 € - a smell of brandy cherry - blackberry, the palate dense but balanced, lighter than Domaine d'Andézon (report below), dries the mouth - blackberry, alcohol heat

 Madiran - Denis Capmartin - Château Barréjat - Tradition

1999 - 5 € - a nose of coffee, blackcurrant, and sweet pepper - a palate of little black fruit, liquorice, a little muddled but fresh, dries the teeth - a lead-pencil long aftertaste

 Vin de table [Ardèche] - Mas de la Bégude - Gilles Azzoni - Hommage à Robert

Non vintage - 5 € - balance and intensity of fruit - fruity, blackcurrant, vinous - very fruity, the fruit typical of a cold fermentation, strawberry, sorbet of cherry and bilberry flavours, pure, juicy and fresh, dries the mouth a little - an aftertaste of blackcurrant

Mas de La Bégude, Les Salelles 07170 Saint-Maurice d'Ibie, tél: +33/4 75 94 70 10

 Côtes du rhône - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Domaine d'Andézon - (syrah 70%)

2000 - 5.2 € - on the palate the wine is fruity and warm, the structure is standard but with more edges than Domaine de Pierredon and Domaine La Montagnette - the end is marked by alcohol heat

 Côtes du rhône villages - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Domaine La Montagnette

2000 - 5.2 € - smells of garrigue herbs, blackberry sorbet, lead pencil, liquorice, roasted - onctuous, the fruit typical of a cold fermentation, warm with alcohol yet fresh, lighter than Domaine d'Andézon, pepper, drying tannins, a burnt taste - chocolate, coffee with milk

 Vin de table de France - Domaine de Peyra - Les puys - non filtrée (sans soufre) - [gamay]

2001 - 5.7 € - balance is straighter than in Les liens - smoked, cherry, cheese, clove, mint chocolate - onctuous, cherry, fresh, smoked, clove - venison, smoked

 Côtes d'auvergne - Domaine de Peyra - Les liens - non filtrée (sans soufre) - [gamay]

2001 - 6.2 € - entertaining - fur, stewed cherry, toffee, moss, apple - merry, roast beef (reduction), clove, stewed cherry, apple, more buttery than Les puys - clove, grapefruit, roast beef

 Côtes du rhône brézème - Jean-Marie Lombard - Grand Chêne

1997 - 6.8 € - smells of blackcurrent and fur - violet, red fruit, fur, ample, fresh, tannic

Livron, tél. +33/ 4 75 61 64 90

 Saint chinian - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Les Travers de Marceau

2001 - 7.3 € - a nose with blackberry sorbet and garrigue - bright and juicy fruit flavours, strawberry and lemon, powerful yet fresh, with a hint of plant bitterness

bureau: 9 r Haute 34360 Berlou, tél. +33/ 04 67 89 74 66, cave: 4 av Mimosas 34360 Berlou

 Chinon - Bernard Baudry - Cuvée du Domaine - [cabernet franc]

2000 - 8 € - a nose of ripe fruit, blackcurrant - a palate fruity (like a fruit juice, not like a concentrate), fresh, less fat than same-year Granges or Grézeaux, more elegant, dense, balanced, dries the palate - ripe fruit, jam, sticks on the teeth

 Côtes du rhône brézème - Jean-Marie Lombard - Eugène de Monicault

1997 - 8.4 € - consider decanting, harmonious - violet, chocolate, plum, berries - vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, fresh - berries, short

Livron, tél. +33/ 4 75 61 64 90

 Faugères - Domaine Léon Barral - Tradition

1999 - 9.1 € - served cooled - cold red fruit (typical of a low-temperature type of wine-making), garrigue, pepper - round on the attack, fruity, juicy but tannic, fresh - very fine tannins, stalk

 Bourgueil - Joël Taluau - Cuvée du Domaine - [cabernet franc]

1996 - 9.3 € - should be still aged, tasted after aeration in decanter - red and black fruit - onctuous, complete, a plant note, fresh

 Chinon - Bernard Baudry - Croix Boissée - [cabernet franc]

2001 - 14 € - little red and black fruits - ripe fruit, a powerful structure yet very fresh (acidity is at 4,15 g/l) - black fruit, very long

 Chinon - Bernard Baudry - Croix Boissée - [cabernet franc]

2000 - 14 € - aging potential - toffee, fruit - very fruity, firm tannins, chewy, limestone, gravel - long
 

 

When choosing wines, remember to buy according to your needs.