Did you know? . . . about Burgundy Wine

The Burgundy wine region ("Bourgogne" in French) only grows two grapes: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

This knowledge is useful when you are staring at an extensive wine menu, or picking out a bottle of wine for a gift and want to impress with something that sounds good. If you like either of those grapes, chances are you won't go wrong if you select a bottle of Burgundy. The wine will, however, have specific traits having been grown in that specific region in France, but most of us wouldn't notice the difference, anyway...and that's OK. If you don't like those grapes, you know chances are you won't like wines from Burgundy. That's OK, too.

Next time you're choosing wine, keep an eye out for the word "Burgundy" or "Bourgogne" on the wine menu, or on the labels. Remind yourself, "that's just Chardonnay!" or "that's just Pinot Noir!" Makes the whole wine experience less intimidating, right?

Quick Review: Cinquante-Cinq Viognier

France, Languedoc, Cinquante-Cinq, Viognier, 2010

/ // Smooth // Lemon // Butter // Medium Bodied

Much less crisp than the nose (lemon) would suggest, the crispness does come out with rich tomato sauce, adding the perception of spicy-heat.

Quick Review: Special Delivery Rose de Pinot Noir

France, Alsace, Special Delivery Rose de Pinot Noir 2011
++ // Smooth // Plum, Petrol // Apple, Strawberry, Grapefruit, Floral, Mineral // Light

Complex, balanced flavor.

Quick Review: Wines at The Forge

We couldn't go wrong - the wines were exceptional at The Forge.

US, CA, Napa Valley, Sterling "Three Palms" Merlot 2008

++ // Fruity // Bright ripe fruit

Fr, Bordeaux, Chateau-Bel Air, St Emillon

++ // Earthy // Tart Fruit, Earth,

US, CA, Ravenswood Zinfandel "Teldeschi" 2008

++ // Fruity // Cherry, Berry, Pepper // Medium-Full

Quick Review: Domaine du Moulin

Fr, Loire Valley, Domaine du Moulin, Herve Villemade Cheverny 2010
++ // Fruity // Hay, Graphite // Strawberry, Oak, Hay, Mushroom, Graphite // Med

A little off on the nose, but almost no trace in the flavor.
Complimented our cheese plate.

Amazing with French dip. Earthy, funky, fruity to compliment the spice (caraway) of the meat.

Quick Review: Chateau Haut Lavigne

FR, Chateau Haut Lavigne, Cotes-de-Duras, 2007

/ // Smooth // Barnyard // Tart, cranberry // light

Some off flavors in this Merlot blend from the southwest of France left us with an uninspiring glass of wine.

Why Are There So Many Wine Regions in France?

In the Middle Ages, the monks in France grew lots of wine. Through a variety of methods, they acquired large plots of arable land, and filled them with vines. As they experimented with wine-making, they carefully documented where the best grapes grew, and broke down their vineyards into very precise plots of land. After the French Revolution, the Church lost most of its land holdings, but farmers kept the plots of land as laid out by the monks.

French wine regions can be broken up into increasingly specific grades:

• Region: The major AOCs of France, extending mostly along the river valleys.
• Village: Within the AOCs there are villages known for the quality of their wine, with specific protected status.
• Vineyard: Within villages, the monks laid out very precise vineyards that have kept their status through the centuries, even as they have changed hands through the generations.

Any of this information can show up on the label, in addition to the specifics of the winemaker, so that makes for a lot of names that a French wine connoisseur must learn. This is one reason French wine can feel so confusing.

Quick Reviews: Wines at Terrior Park Slope

France, South Rhone, Chateauneuf-de-Pape, Domanie Moulin-Tacussel, 2001
++ // Fruity // Cherry, Cola // Cocoa, Earth, Raspberry, Old Leather // Full

Needed time to open up, but was worth the wait. Chateauneuf-de-Pape is one of the more prestigious wine regions in the world, and their wine come at a price. Typically outside our price point, Tina had decided one glass of wine for the evening was enough and hedged her bets on this one. It was worth it! 

France, North Rhone, Crozes-Hermitage, Domanie des Entrefaux, 2010
++ // Earthy // Mushroom, Cocoa, Oak, Currants // Earth, Stone, Blueberry // Full

Rounded flavor for such a young red.

Quick Review: Wines at Terrior Tribeca

France, Languedoc, Domaine La Roche Buissiere, "Petit Jo" (NV)
+ // Funky // Barnyard, Wet Forest, Cherry // Lush Fruit, Old Leather // Medium
Made with grapes from 70 year old vines.
 
Italy, Sicily, Frank Cornelissen, "Contadina 8" (NV)
+ // Funky // Old Gym Socks, Blueberry // Blueberry, Leather, Chocolate, Cedar // Medium
Very tart. Makes you want another sip.

Quick Reviews: Wines at Terrior Tribeca

France, Loire, Christian Venier, Les Hauts de Madon Cheverny Rouge 2010
++ // Fruity // Cranberry // Fruit, Rose, Bitter Herbs // Medium
Very complex, like a red muscat. Made from Pinot Noir and Gamay, while most red wines from Loire are usually Cabernet Franc.


Austria, Carnutum, Artner, Blauer Zweiglet "Klassik" 2010
++ // Spicy // Leather, Cherry, Currant, Cardamon // Black Pepper, Berry, Slate // Full
Fruit forward, long spicy finish. The earthy slate notes were very prominent with the pork.

Did You Know?... About Cote de Nuits-Villages

Cote de Nuits-Villages is a sub-region of the "Burgundy" AOC in France. It's at the northern edge of the Cote d'Or in the north of Burgogne, near the city of Dijon. The region produces mostly red wines from the Pinot Noir grape. Most of the estates are very small, producing only a few thousand cases a year.  

"Burgundy" is the English spelling of "Burgogne."

Mushroom Chili and Burgundy for a Cold Night

It's cold outside. That means it's time to cook those hearty, savory dinners to help us keep warm. When we cook at home, we like to try to use ingredients from our local farmer's market when we can get our hands on them, but winter limits us to a lot of root vegetables and mushrooms. So the perfect choice is a Mushroom Chili.

One of the other benefits of a hearty stew or chili is that it lends itself to pairing easily with wine, in that a rich, full bodied red wine will add layers of flavor to the dish when also used in the sauce. So knowing the plan for dinner, we stopped off at a local wine shop to grab a bottle. Like most of the small shops in our neighborhood, the shelves are stocked with a preponderance of French and Italian wines, with just a sprinkling of West Coast options. We like to focus on New York wines when we have the chance, but some days there is little point in fighting the system. So instead, we used it as an opportunity to treat ourselves, and buy a bottle of Burgundy. We talk about the wines fairly often, especially in respect to the newer style of Pinot Noirs from New York, so its good to take a chance to try the original so we truly know what we are talking about.

It all worked out to make a fine evening. The soup was earthy and filling. The wine had a strong earthy backbone (and was recommended by the wineseller as such), but with a bit a fresh fruit flavors that brought a bit of liveliness to the meal--very welcome on a cold winter night. We aren't about to give up our local roots to be come Francophiles, but its easy to see what the fuss is all about.

Quick Review: Giraudon Bourgogne

France, Bourgogne, Giraudon Viticulteur, Aligote 2010
+ // Crisp // Grass, Butter // Lemon, Butter, Stone // Medium

The Burgundy region of France is known for its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the principle grapes of this area. This wine was a Chardonnay.

Quick Review: Paul Jaboulet Aine 'Les Cypres' 2007

France, Cote du Rhone-Vacqueyras, Paul Jaboulet Aine, 'Les Cypres' Rouge, 2007
++ // Earthy // Forest floor, Cherry // Cherry, chocolate, white pepper, sage // Medium bodied

From the Cote du Rhone area in France, the sub-appellation is Vacqueyras and the producer Paul Jaboulet Aine.

This is a Red Southern Rhone Blend, which the producer is calling "Les Cypres." A blend from this region generally consists of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, in varying proportions, although typically Grenache and Syrah are the dominant partners. We were told this was mostly Grenache.

This wine really opened up well - the white pepper soon mellowed out and the fruit came forward. Very smooth.

Did you know? . . . About Cotes du Ventoux AOC

Learning about wine gets difficult when you begin to explore the various AOC regions in France.

AOC stands for "appellation d'origine contrôlée" and signifies a designated quality area. It is important to learn your AOC's because French wines are almost always labeled by AOC, not by grape varietal. This is where wine gets particularly confusing. Our wine bottle from James read only "Cotes du Ventoux" and the winery name. From that, we were to know that, by regulation, grapes grown here for red wine must be Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Carignan and that red wine from this AOC is almost always a blend. While this area does grow grapes for white wine, red wine is the vast majority of production out of this AOC.

Cotes du Ventoux is in the southeastern edge of the southern Rhone Valley. The Rhone Valley is split into two regions - Northern and Southern. Reds from this southern area are mostly blends.

The Rhone Valley - Cotes du Ventoux in the southeast

Quick Review: Wine at James

France, Rhone Valley, Cotes du Ventoux, Chateau Valcombe, "Signature," 2008
+ // Fruity // Strawberry, Petrol // Berry, a long leather finish // Medium to Heavy

Red wine from this region (Cotes du Ventoux) is composed of a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault grapes. Oz Clarke notes in his book Let Me Tell You About Wine that 2008 is a vintage to be avoided--but we would never have known.

Pinot Noir Tasting, the Results

On Monday we told you about our test, to see how well we could compare three different Pinot Noir wines. Now to see how we did!

Nate's reveal. Uh oh!

Do We Know What We Are Talking About?

Although we spend a lot of time learning about wine, and talking about what we learn, we seldom actually test our new-found knowledge. So we recently decided to put ourselves (and our taste buds) to the test.

Which wine is it? A blind taste test.

Quick Review: Wine at B&B Winepub

Italy, Abruzzo, Masciarelli, Montepulciano 2010

+ // Crisp, Funky, Fruity // Red apple, strawberry // Leather, cherry, candied apple // Medium

France, Loire, Chateau Fontaine-Audon, Sancerre 2010

/ // Crisp // Apple, grape // Apple, grape, grapefruit // Light

Did You Know?... About Cotes du Rhone

Cotes du Rhone (pronounced coat doo rone) is a AOC region in the south of France, along the Rhone river. It includes such famous wine regions as Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Hermitage, and the region usually produces more wine than any other French appellation other than Bordeaux. 

Syrah is the only grape grown in Northern Rhone, and results in earthy and spicy wines, while Southern Rhone reds can include Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre, and Carignan (and blends of such) which add rounder, fruitier flavors to their wines. White wines are a blend of Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, among other varietals. Southern Rhone is also one of the only regions to make a sweet Muscat, in a style similar to Port.

So, when you see a wine labeled "Cotes du Rhone," you will now know which grapes to expect. For red, either Syrah or Grenache blend, and whites, likely Viognier or blend of some such.

Courtesy of Terroir-France.com