French white wine values tasted in 2006
The selected French bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. Featured values include Muscadet and other summer wines.
The below wines were tasted in France, in 2006 (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
Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie - Luneau Michel et Fils
2005 - 3 € - pure - joyful, tiny gas beads, fresh
Gros-plant - A.Michel Brégeon
2005 - 3.5 € - bacon, apple - onctuous, alcohol modest, fresh - apple skinWhere to purchase Bregeon wines
Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie - Cormerais - Domaine de Mauperthuis - Domaine de Mauperthuis
2004 - 3.7 € - our standard representative of the Muscadet production, apparent winemaking from run-of-the-mill grapes - faint lichee, a hint of scallop - velvety, with beads, faint lichee, a hint of scallop, more alcohol than fruit, refreshing, does not show the acidic stiffness of some Muscadets
Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie - Girard - Le Fleuron de la Rebourgère
2005 - 4.3 € - standard Muscadet - fresh

Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Domaine de la Pépière
2005 - 4.7 € - a superb match to raw oyster shells - an elegant nose of lime, litchi, and peach - velvety, light but very savory, apricot, redcurrant, brine, a vegetable note, no minerality, tiny gas beads, less structured than Brégeon, less lively yet crisp and fresh - less persistenceWhere to purchase Ollivier wines
Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie - A.Michel Brégeon
2005 - 4.8 € - should benefit from ageing - peach, apple, chais, intense - onctuous, peach, dries the palate, fresh, more winey than Pépière - citrus zestWhere to purchase Bregeon wines
Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Clos des Briords - Cuvée Vieilles Vignes
2005 - 5.5 € - grapefruit, fresh - grapefruit, the liveliness is drying the mouth, crunchier than the the 2001 vintage tasted at age 2 - grapefruitWhere to purchase Ollivier wines
Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Clos des Cormerais - Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - Vin élevé en fûts de chêne
2003 - 6 € - a weak nose of frozen grapefruit - toffee, intense flavour but light body, fresh - bitter-orange (the balance of fruit and onctuosity is the same as in the 1999 bottling tasted at the same age, the oak treatment is as refined)Where to purchase Ollivier wines

Touraine - Clos Roche Blanche - n°2 - Sauvignon
2004 - 6.6 € - onctuous, freshly cut hay, a hint of a little red fruit, freshWhere to purchase Clos Roche Blanche wines

Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie - A.Michel Brégeon
2001 - 7 € - a very intense nose akin to a Chablis twice as old : with seashell and hazelnut - very slightly sweet, intense flavours of nectarine, litchi, apple, apricot, and citrus zest, fresh - peach skinWhere to purchase Bregeon wines
Vouvray - François Pinon - Brut 'méthode traditionnelle' - [Chenin]
[2004] - 7 € - does not show the toffee note of the 1996 version - subdued nose - peach, toasted loafbread, less wide than the Chidaine, drying (from acidity), freshWhere to purchase Pinon wines
Alsace - Schaeffer-Woerly - Riesling
2004 - 8 € - well made, very enjoyable - nectarine, lichee, mango - aromatic with nectarine, lichee, mango, smokiness, almond, onctuous throughout while remaining fresh

Vouvray - François Pinon - Sec - [Chenin]
2005 - 8 € - very natural - citrus, minerally, a hinty of fresh herb - onctuous, very intense, pear, nectarine, wide, minerally, fresh, very pure, more drying than the 2000Where to purchase Pinon wines
Montlouis - François Chidaine - Méthode Traditionnelle - Brut non-millésimé
[2004] - 9 € - small beads, velvety, nectarine, wide, fresh, toasted loafbread

Vouvray - François Pinon - Tradition - [Chenin]
2005 - 9 € - keep it in a remote corner of the cellar - ripe peach - onctuous, peach, sweet, freshWhere to purchase Pinon wines
When choosing wines, remember to buy according to your needs.