French red wine values tasted in 2003

The selected French bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. Featured values include five bottlings from the Midi and four Rhônes, and Domaine de Pierredon.
 

The below wines were tasted in France, in 2003 (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 € - 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, a little hard on the finale
Ed, filiale de Carrefour
 

 Madiran - Denis Capmartin - Château Barréjat - (bag-in-box)
Non vintage - 2 € - the enormous red fruit shows more than in the Tradition cuvée, the wine is more open - red fruit dominates the nose - much fruit, dense, tannic, dries the palate and the tongue (should not fit delicate taste buds)

Where to purchase Barrejat wines
 

 Bordeaux - S.F.V. A F 69220 - Bordeaux
Non vintage - 2 € - pleasant yet commonplace/ordinary, incomplete ripeness - 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
 

 Vin-de-pays du Pont du Gard - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Cuvée des galets - Non filtré
2002 - 3.5 € - serve it cool - easy-going, not much onctuosity, cherry, dense, out of focus, pleasant but with a stiff hint

Where to purchase Les Vignerons d Estezargues wines
 

 Vin-de-pays-du-Jardin-de-la-France - A.Michel Brégeon - Cabernet - (cuve)
1994 - 3.7 € - a nose of cherry, red pepper and mushroom - red pepper on the palate, firm but light

Where to purchase Bregeon wines
 

 Vin de pays du Var - Domaine L'Estagnol
2002 - 4 € - cherry dominates the nose - dense, cherry, dries the palate, more tannic than the Bordeaux S.F.V. A F 69220
 

 Côtes-du-rhône - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Domaine de Pierredon
2001 - 4.3 € - the easy-going mouth shows much fruit and a mineral or dry note, lacks focus

Where to purchase Les Vignerons d Estezargues wines
 

 Madiran - Denis Capmartin - Château Barréjat - Tradition
2000 - 5 € - coffee and roasting dominate the nose - the palate is fruity (blackcurrant), roasted, and balanced: the wine is less open than Estézargues but more tannic and fresher, tightens the taste buds (healthy effect) - to be also compared to the 1999 vintage tasted at the same age)

Where to purchase Barrejat wines
 

 Côtes-du-rhône - Domaine du Vieux Colombier
1999 - 5.2 € - conforms to the Rhône standard - smells of garrigue - fruit, balance
Barrière, ham Colombiers, 485 chemin du Pigeonnier, 30200 Sabran, tél: +33 (0) 4 66 89 98 94
 

 Coteaux-varois - Domaine Les Maurels
2001 - 5.2 € - character - the nose is dominated by chicken shit, or at least farmyard (Brettanomyces?): not disagreeable to me and the other guests - nice if a bit hollow and thin
 

 Côtes-du-rhône - André Brunel - Cuvée Sommelongue
2001 - 5.5 € - on the nose: lead pencil, liquorice, garrigue - on the palate: lead pencil, liquorice, little black fruit
 

 Côtes-d'auvergne - Domaine de Peyra - Vieilles vignes [clay-basalt] - non filtrée (sans soufre) - [gamay]
2001 - 6.2 € - on the nose: spice, orange, and liquorice - onctuous, the fruit typical of a low-temperature winemaking (coulis of red fruit, sorbet, smokiness), fresh, pure - the persistance shows spice, orange, and smokiness

Where to purchase Peyra wines
 

 Bourgogne-hautes-côtes-de-nuits - Domaine Patrick Hudelot - (Pinot noir, à la propriété / sans nom de cuvée en grande distribution)
2001 - 6.8 € - On the 1st day: tasty without a big density - the cherry nose is fresh, classical Burgundy, with a roastbeef edge - intensity of flavour, cherry, rostbeef, very dry, juicy, no unripeness or manipulation, dries the palate and the gums - an aftertaste of cherry -
- On the 2nd day : a nose of morello cherry - cherry taste, holds its alcohol well, dries the palate and the gums
 

 Saint-chinian - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Les Travers de Marceau
2002 - 7.3 € - a nose with cherry and blackberry - big impact on entry, cherry and blackberry, silky with a mineral note, clean and balanced (to be compared to the 2001 vintage tasted at the same age)

Where to purchase Rimbert wines
 

 Ajaccio - Clos d'Alzeto - (Tradition)
1997 - 7.7 € - wood varnish (but agreeable), blackcurrant, evolved fruit - evolved fruit, old casks, juicy - dries the taste buds
Clos d'Alzeto, 20151 Sari d'Orcino, tél. +33 (0) 4 95 52 24 67
 
 

Quarterly additions

New tasting reports are put on-line every June, September and December. You will be emailed at the date of issue if you subscribe to the newsletter. (There currently are 1153 subscribers.)