Robin, if it's not cool to post this here, you can go ahead and shoot this baby down.
Thursday from 4:30-6:30pm we'll be opening up 5 great French values for FREE at the Wine Market at 1200 Bardstown Road. We have a handful of fun new cheeses in our case too like the Vella Dry Jack, Beehive Barely Buzzed Cheddar and a kick@ss little soft-ripened Munster. Here's tasting notes for the night's wines:
Why We LOVE French Reds
September 6 Tasting
The Wine Market - 1200 Bardstown Rd.
Louis Chavy Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire 2010 $10.99
67% Gamay 33% PN
A long while ago you might reasonably expect to find wines that said "Bourgogne" on the label and provided inviting but economical French Pinot Noir. It's been ages since we've come across that, and though this light, fruity sipper is mostly Gamay (the other red grape of Burgundy) it is right up that alley in terms of what pours out of the bottle. Approachable red fruit on the nose and palate (ripe strawberries and tart cherries) with a hint of the woodsy aromas that tell you this is from the Old World - this light bodied palate cleanser is easy to enjoy.
Dom. de la Ferrandiere Malbec 2011 $10.99
A great introduction to French Malbec, near it's ancestral home in the southwest of France. Leaner and more tart than you'd expect from Argentine Malbecs, this unoaked gem displays earthy red (rather than dark) fruit, just a hint of the tobacco notes you might be used to, and well integrated tannins that are a lot easier to take than you might encounter with even entry level Cahors. This is a clean, linear wine with a lot more focus than many of the flabby, overoaked and overextracted Southern Hemisphere examples we are shown on a regular basis.
Ch. St. Martin de la Garrigue Tradition 2008 $10.99
88 points - HYPERLINK "http://eRobertParker.com/"eRobertParker.com says:
"intriguingly-scented with fresh, ripe dark berries; spruce resin and rosemary; soy and smoky goose fat. Firm but fine grained and persistently juicy, it adds to the arsenal of flavors adumbrated on the nose a briny and wet stone-like undertone whose strong persistence – when combined with the bitter side of herbs and a firm feel – makes for a slightly austere finish."
We don't know what "adumbrated" means or find the finish on this approachable red
austere at all, in fact, it lives up to its Domaine's name in every way we could hope for: tons and tons of herbaceousness on the nose that follows through on the palate. This wine screams of Mediterranean herbs: lavender, thyme, oregano and rosemary coupled with bright, mouth-watering acidity and riper fruit than we'd expect from the '08 vintage. A steal at $11.
Dom. D'Aupilhac Lou Maset Coteaux du Languedoc 2009 $9.99
This gamey, funky blend is mostly Grenache and Cinsault and the rest Carignan, Syrah and a dollop of Alicante Bouchet (an uncommon varietal related to Grenache that is often bottled as Garnacha in Spain). While this is the least expensive wine featured in this month's tasting, it's the star of the show to us in many ways. Totally idiosyncratic on the nose, this wine smells to us like a piece of burnt toast soaked in grape juice, and we mean that in the best possible way. Some of the best values and most unique wines in France are being made in the Languedoc and the properties this wine is drawn from border stars like Moulin de Gassac (whose wines we also stock!) and other established crus known to wine nerds for years, like St Chinian and Faugeres. Super ripe (as you'd expect from the warm, warm '09 vintage) with loads of extract and enough tannins to lay down for a while, this super value bleeds black fruit juice (blackberries, plums, etc.) with leather, earth, licorice, black pepper and an intriguing background note that reminds us of those funny little wrinkled up oil-cured black olives adding to the complex profile.
Reserve des Armoiries Cotes du Rhone 2009 $14.99
A blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault and Mourvedre from the pebbly soils of the Southern Rhone Valley, blended by Wine Auteur Kermit Lynch. Wonderfully balanced, with some acid zip to offset the ripe, raisinated fruit contributed by the warm '09 vintage. Undeniably and unflinchingly Old World in nature: dried cranberry aromas are offset by a touch of nuttiness (hazelnuts and roasted chestnuts) and green herb notes like thyme and fennel on the palate. Classic and affordable Cotes du Rhone for fans of the style.
