French wines to buy in Greenville and South Carolina

Herebelow are French wines that I recommend and where to buy them in Greenville and South Carolina. 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 2009

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

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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Tradition [demi-sec]

2006 - USD 15 - no manipulation - fruit (citrus) - onctuous, with fruit (honeydew melon, peach, fruit of the loom), a hint of chalk, soft (demi-sec), pure, fresh

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Silex Noir [demi-sec]

2007 - USD 17 - pear or peach - onctuous, intense, pear or peach, less soft than the 2006 Tradition, fresh and even more lively than Les Trois Argiles

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Les Trois Argiles [demi-sec]

2007 - USD 17 - similar to Silex Noir but much more mineral - fruit of the loom, a note of white fruit, a hint of chalk - onctuous, fruit of the loom, a hint of chalk, soft (demi-sec), less intense than Silex Noir, with more body, fresh but no as vivid

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Brut 'méthode traditionnelle' - [chenin]

[2004] - USD 14 - modest nose - small gas beads, toasted loaf bread, dry but wide, as snappy as a Champagne

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Sec - [chenin]

2005 - USD 15 - a white fruit dominates the nose - aromatic intensity, pear, wide, dry, minerally, fresh

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

French wine values tasted in 2006

 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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 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

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 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)

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Brut 'méthode traditionnelle' - [Chenin]

[2004] - USD 14 - does not show the toffee note of the 1996 version - subdued nose - peach, toasted loafbread, less wide than the Chidaine, drying (from acidity), fresh

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Sec - [Chenin]

2005 - USD 15 - very natural - citrus, minerally, a hinty of fresh herb - onctuous, very intense, pear, nectarine, wide, minerally, fresh, very pure, more drying than the 2000

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

 Vouvray - François Pinon - Tradition - [Chenin]

2005 - USD 17 - keep it in a remote corner of the cellar - ripe peach - onctuous, peach, sweet, fresh

Distributor for South Carolina: Carolina Wine Source

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

Wines are selected on personal criteria.

You may also read reviews on recommended wines available in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, or you may request another location at the bottom of this page.