French wines to buy in Canada

Herebelow are French wines that I recommend and where to buy them in Canada. A retailer that is not listed here can sell the wine ; he/she only has to contact the merchant or the importer.

French wine values tasted in 2010

 Côtes du rhône - Paul Jaboulet Aîné - Parallèle 45

2008 - USD 11 - white fruit - onctuous, white fruit, fresh

Saint Pierre et Miquelon (à côté de Newfoundland and Labrador) : Le Tire bouchon

French wine values tasted in 2009

 Fleurie - Geneviève et Jean-Claude Chanudet - Domaine J. Chamonard - La Madone - [gamay]

2005 - USD 20 - aromas of black cherry and roast beef - ripe black cherry and roast beef, flower, does not dry tongue or palate, firm

Canada, Québec, oenopole

 Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Domaine de la Pépière

2008 - USD 10 - apple skin, minerally - lichee, fruitgrape, starfruit, not dense, fresh

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

 Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Les gras moutons

2008 - USD 13 - full maturity of grapes - lichee - lichee, not onctuous but round, vibrant and fresh

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

 Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Clos des Briords - Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

2007 - USD 13 - you should keep and age this wine - closed and then even more vibrant than the 2007 Brégeon, dry, minerally and fresh

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

French wine values tasted in 2007

 Vin de pays du Jardin de la France - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Cabernet

2005 - USD 9.3 - 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

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

 Vin de pays des collines rhodaniennes - Jamet - Syrah

2005 - USD 14 - 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

Canada, British Columbia, V6B 2S8 Vancouver, 1260 Hamilton St, Suite 300, Liquid Art Fine Wines, tel. +1 604 320 0295

 Morgon - Geneviève et Jean-Claude Chanudet - Domaine J. Chamonard - [gamay]

2005 - USD 18 - 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!

Canada, Québec, oenopole

 Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Clos des Briords - Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

2005 - USD 12 - this wine will only get better, clean as the Briords 2001 tasted at the same age - pear and seashell on the nose - pear, fresh, shows more structure than Cormerais 2003, is not drying as was the same Briords 2005 tasted one year earlier

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

 Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Clos des Cormerais - Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - Vin élevé en fûts de chêne

2003 - USD 12 - this wine is very fine but should benefit from ageing - fruit, delicate toffee - fruit, delicate toffee, fuller than the Briords 2005, a minerally thread, fresh - hasn't really changed from one summer to the next

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

 Muscadet de sèvre et maine sur lie - Luneau-Papin - Les Pierres blanches

2005 - USD 15 - drink it often - the nose shows much typical fruit, with citrus - the palate does not show the velvety texture of the Brégeon 2006, aromas are more intense than in the Brégeon 2005, tiny gas beads, light, refreshing

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

French wine values tasted in 2006

 Vin de pays des collines rhodaniennes - Jamet - Syrah

2004 - USD 14 - varietal: the aromas wonderfully express syrah - red fruit, violet flower - red fruit, violet flower, much less structure that an AOC (Côte-rôtie), juicy, balanced - similar to the 2005 vintage tasted at the same age

Canada, British Columbia, V6B 2S8 Vancouver, 1260 Hamilton St, Suite 300, Liquid Art Fine Wines, tel. +1 604 320 0295

 Muscadet de sèvre et maine sur lie - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Domaine de la Pépière

2005 - USD 10 - 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 persistence

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

 Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Clos des Briords - Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

2005 - USD 11 - grapefruit, fresh - grapefruit, the liveliness is drying the mouth, crunchier than the the 2001 vintage tasted at age 2 - grapefruit

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

 Muscadet - Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière - Clos des Cormerais - Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - Vin élevé en fûts de chêne

2003 - USD 12 - 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)

A store in Calgary, Alberta: Bin 905

Price figures are only very rough estimates of the US retail tags, at the date of the tasting.

Wines are selected on personal criteria.

Other recommended wines may be available in Canada but their distribution channels are not referenced yet. Please enhance this tool by e-mailing the coordinates of another shop that offers one of the latest French red wine values.