French red wine values tasted in 2007
The selected French bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. Featured values include 5 bottlings from the Rhône Valley.
The below wines were tasted in France, in 2007 (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
Côtes-du-rhône - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Cuvée des copains
2006 - 3.4 € - yummy served at a cool temperature - red fruit, a note of blackberry sorbet - red fruit, a note of blackberry sorbet, a vegetable hint, does not dry the mouth, easy and round (little acidity)
Vin-de-pays du Pont du Gard - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Cuvée des galets - Non filtré
2006 - 4 € - serve at a cool temperature - red fruit - red fruit, shows the biggest body from this cooperative, dense, dries the teeth, round
Vin-de-pays-du-Jardin-de-la-France - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Cabernet
2005 - 4 € - bell pepper - green bell pepper, fresh, the incomplete grape maturity is similar to that of the Mouton Cadet 2004 which you will prefer if you need wine to impact your palate
Vin-de-pays-du-Jardin-de-la-France - A.Michel Brégeon - Cabernet
2002 - 4.2 € - on the nose red fruit and yellow bell pepper dominate - red fruit and red bell pepper, dense, firm
Côtes-du-rhône - SCA les Vignerons d'Estézargues - Le Pape noir
2005 - 5.3 € - serve at a cool temperature, no vanilla, nor tar, nor stewed fruit, nor smokedness - blackcurrant - blackcurrant or blackberry, does not dry the mouth, round : little structure or acidity
Côtes-de-provence - Richard Martel - La Garnaude - Olympe
2003 - 5.5 € - red fruit scrambled by conventional winemaking - blackcurrant, roastbeef, fresh - aromatic, blackcurrant, roastbeef, moss, not dense, not very drying, balanced, less intense than the Olympe 2002 tasted at the same age 06140 Tourrettes-sur-Loup, 8 r Bourgade, Cave de Tourrettes, M.Orta, tél : 04 93 24 10 12
Vin-de-pays-de-l'Ardèche - Jérôme Jouret - Domaine Les Clapas - Pas à pas - [80%] carignan, [20%] alicante
2006 - 6.3 € - shows a great aromatic intensity even if served slightly fresh - a nose of black fruit, with a note of roastbeef and a hint of thyme - black fruit, neither heavy nor aggressive, but firm (too bad it is sometimes corked!)
Vin-de-pays-des-collines-rhodaniennes - Jamet - Syrah
2005 - 7.5 € - I love Syrah with such a varietal character ! - black chocolate, flower, blackcurrant, toasted loafbread - blackcurrant, juicy, much alcohol, balanced - blackcurrant - similar to the Jamet 2004 tasted at the same age
 Morgon - Geneviève et Jean-Claude Chanudet - Domaine J. Chamonard - [gamay]
2005 - 10 € - intense blackcurrant, a note of roastbeef, candied fruit - onctuous, intense blackcurrant, a note of roastbeef, there is no banana but the candied fruit typical of a wine that has not encountered sulfites, easy but firm - drink this year and in ten years!
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