French red wine values tasted in 2010
The selected French bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. Featured values include 3 Cahors and 4 Gamays. 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 2010 (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
Bordeaux - - Les Gauthiers
2007 - 3.6 € - typical of a Bordeaux, reminds of a Mouton Cadet 2006 - licorice, tire - licorice, tire, dries the mouth, food-friendly balance
Lidl
Côtes du roussillon villages - Prieur Rabasse
2007 - 4 € - black fruit - onctuous, black fruit, neither weedy nor harsh, dense, supple and round
Leader Price
Vin de table français - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Cousin Oscar - (cinsault dominant)
Non vintage - 4.6 € - very fruity, round
Beaujolais villages nouveau - Vinifié par [Jean-Claude Chanudet et non] Marcel Lapierre - Château Cambon - [gamay]
2010 - 6 € - intense but not explosive like Foillard - strawberry - strawberry, firm balance
Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise - Vignerons de Buxy - Rouge
2008 - 6.6 € - typically what a Burgundy should be - Morello cherry - Morello cherry, not very dense but juicy, firm stand
Saint chinian - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Les Travers de Marceau
2008 - 6.9 € - fresh red fruit, a note of treaded grapes - fresh red fruit, silky but dries the palate a bit, food-friendly balance
Table - Jean Maupertuis - La Guillaume - Gamay
2009 - 7 € - lots of fruit - ripe cherry, orange - ripe cherry, orange, juicy, incisive (thanks to an uncomplete grape ripeness), firm, shorter than Griottes 2007 by Chermette
Beaujolais nouveau - Jean Foillard - [gamay]
2010 - 7 € - not a lot of fruit for a young natural wine, elegant, more complex on Day 2 - explosive fruit, banana, undergrowth on the second day - low onctuosity, explosive fruit, banana, a note of mocka, undergrowth on the second day, intense, firm, refreshing
Beaujolais - Domaine du Vissoux - Pierre-Marie Chermette - Griottes
2007 - 7 € - more structure than La Guillaume or Foillard, but less aroma - on the palate : morello cherry, strawberry, juicy, vinous, firm - blackberry, very long
Vin de France - Marc Houtin et Julien Bresteau - La Grange aux Belles - La Chaussée rouge - (macération carbonique)
2009 - 7 € - red fruit, the smell of ivy when you rip it from a wall (typical of Atlantic Cabernet) - dense, red fruit, green pepper, a hint of nougat (typical of no-SO2 winemaking), the balance is food-friendly
Table - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Le Chant de Marjolaine - (carignan)
2008 - 7.2 € - nicely fresh - spicy and fresh red fruit, a note of vanilla (but no wood was used) - not onctuous but suave and juicy, fresh red fruit, a note of vanilla (but no wood was used), the balance is food-friendly
2005 - 7.5 € - red fruit - red fruit, dries the mouth, the balance is food-friendly
Cahors - Jouffreau - Clos de Gamot
2006 - 8 € - red fruit - onctuous, dense, mellow, the balance is food-friendly
Côtes de provence - Clos Cassivet
2004 - 10 € - dust, dark chocolate (due to oak barrel), blackberry - onctuous (thanks to oak barrel), dark chocolate, blackberry, dense, dries the tongue and the palate, food-friendly
Cahors - Jouffreau - Clos de Gamot
1989 - 32 € - much more complex than Cayrou 1989, slightly better than CVNE Imperial 2001 - onctuous, not drying, food-friendly
When choosing wines, remember to buy according to your needs.
