France

Domaine des Quatre Routes Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie 2020 Review

Whenever we have oysters, our thoughts go to Muscadet Sevret et Maine sur lie as the pairing.

There is something about this particular grape that works so well with oysters as the lees aging offers a richness to what would otherwise be a simple wine. Beyond that, we historically have noted a decent salinity in this style of wine that offsets the brininess of oysters quite nicely.

So naturally, when we had oysters delivered to our house, it was time to open a Domaine des Quatre Routes Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie!

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Olivier Morin Bourgogne Aligote 2017 Review – A Nice Complexity

When you think of white wines for Burgundy, your mind probably goes to Chardonnay. But there are other white grapes from this famous region in France, with one particular one, Aligote, we've only recently been able to try.

Olivier Morin's Aligote could have been a simple-but-acidic white wine, but this one had a nice complexity to it thanks to a year of lees aging.

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E. Guigal Condrieu 2019 Review – Low Acid and Strong Flavors

As I am slowly falling in love with the Northern Rhone for its Syrah, I've always been curious about trying the region's notable white grape- Viognier.

If Cote-Rotie is the champion of all things Syrah, then Condrieu nearby is all about this floral and fragrant grape. But there was always one problem- it is really hard to find a reasonable bottle of Condrieu. $80-$100+ is the norm with these, and it wasn't until I stumbled upon a $60 bottle of E. Guigal Condrieu at a Total Wine in Virginia that I finally threw reason out the door and snatched one up.

While this one was a bit out of the conventional balance we like, we have to admit, the flavor was a winner.

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Domaine Rostaing Ampodium Cote Rotie 2017 Review

Over the last year or so, I've been developing a bit of a love affair with Syrah. This grape has a wonderful flavor profile with nice black pepper characteristics and can be quite intense as well.

Of all the regions that produce Syrah, my affinity is pushing towards those from the Northern Rhone in regions like Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, and others. One region that took me a while to try was Cote Rotie as these bottles are often among the most expensive we've seen (think $70 for the cheapest, $100 for average, and $150+ for more).

But the allure of Syrahs from the roasted hillside got the better of me, so when I needed a bottle to celebrate some good news, I knew what to get. I ended up finding Domaine Rostaing Ampodium 2017 for just about $90 and popped it open the very next day. It was everything I hoped for.

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Chateau de la Ragotiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine 2016 Review

We first heard about Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie in our WSET classes. This wine hails from the western part of the Loire Valley near the ocean and is considered to be a cool-to-moderate maritime climate- perfect for a white grape such as this one.

But it is the Sur Lie element that makes this one the most intriguing because the wine is aged on the lees to give it a bit of added character in the glass (something you do not see in many muscat variants, or at least, something we haven't seen much of). Naturally, as soon as I spotted this bottle from Chateau de la Rogotiere in the store, I had to buy it to give it a shot.

While would say that the lees elements in this bottle are not as intense as others we've had since cracking this one open, it adds a nice complexity to the wine all the same.

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Cave de Tain Hermitage 2014 Review – A Stellar Syrah

The more I drink wines from the Rhone region of France, the more I start to realize how much I love the area and the grapes that are grown there.

This is especially true of the Syrah from the Northern Rhone as places like Hermitage, Cote Rotie, and others make some of the finest styles of this wine you can ever have.

Cave de Tain's Hermitage 2014 was no different and was a delightful bottle all around that we enjoyed with a burger of all things!

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Domaine de l’Envo Bulles de Muscat 2019 Review – Delightful Pet Nat

Sometimes we open pet nat (pétillant naturel) wines with a bit of hesitation. As these bottles are unfiltered and finish their fermentation in the bottle, we often don't know what we're going to get. Lots of lees flavor? Maybe. Bubbles? Most likely. Funkiness? It happens especially if they are naturally fermented too.

As it turns out, Domaine de l'Envo's Bulles de Muscat from Alsace, France, hit just the right notes for all the categories. Strong flavors that were nuanced by the pet nat production style.

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Clos du Roy Fronsac 2016 Review – Surprisingly Tannic

The Clos du Roy Fronsac is a primarily Merlot-based wine (90%) with just a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blended in for good measure (5%) of each.

We quickly noticed two things after opening this one. On the nose, it was incredibly perfumed and on the palate, it was significantly more tannic than we expected.

You guessed it, we opened this one too soon.

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Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 2011 Review – A Fine Riesling

Our first Trimbach Riesling was a Grand Cru sampled at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs in 2019. It was truly one of the finest Rieslings we've ever had and helped cement our love affair with all things Alsace.

A little while later, we found another Trimbach bottle in our local liquor store- the Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 2011. While this one came with a fairly sufficient sticker price ($70 in 2020), we reflected on how much we enjoyed our earlier Trimbach, threw caution to the wind, and picked it up all the same.

Then we decided to crack it open on a Monday night just because we can.

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