WineLife365

Archive for July, 2009

Muscadet is a white French wine made from the Muscadet grape, which is formally called Melon de Bourgogne, often referred to simply as melon pronounced “meh-Lawn”.  This French white wine is primarily made at the western end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region of France.

All muscadet wine produced in France will have an “AOC” designation stamped on the label. “AOC” stands for Appellation d’origine contrôlée, which translates to “controlled term of origin”.  France has a very strict law that stresses that AOC products shall be produced in a consistent and traditional manner with ingredients from specifically classified producers in designated geographical areas. The products must further be aged at least partially in the respective designated area.  In this particular case, Muscadet has three “AOC’s” which are:

1.) Sèvre et Maine
2.) Coteaux de la Loire
3.) Côtes de Grandlieu 

Much of the best Muscadet comes from the Sèvre et Maine AOC area and all labels from this particular AOC will say “Sur Lie”, which means that the wine stayed in contact with its sediment for a period of time to give the Muscadet more complexity of flavors.

French Muscadet is a fairly light tasting style of white wine.  However, most possess a zippy tart lemon-lime flavor that is great for sipping on a sizzling summer day.  Muscadet is a terrific companion with shellfish-especially oysters and clams.  If the raw bar is your thing, a French Muscadet is the perfect marriage.

When shopping for Muscadet, make sure to purchase the youngest ones that you can find because this white wine in most cases, does not age well. 

Chill well and enjoy!

From: Australia

Price: $9.99

I picked this Australian white wine off the shelf because of its unique white grape blend.  I’m a big fan of wine labels that clearly tell you exactly what’s inside the bottle. The folks at St. Hallet clearly tell the consumer on the front label that their “Poacher’s Blend” is a mixture of 3 white wine grapes:  68% Semillon, 21% Sauvignon Blanc, and 11% Riesling.

The 2007 St. Hallet Poacher’s Blend is one of the oddest, but tastiest, white wines that I’ve tried this year.  In past reviews, I’ve used “odd” as a prelude to saying that the wine was just ok, or that I personally didn’t care for the wine.  On this occasion, however, odd and different can be very good.  This wine is very easy for me to describe.  It tastes like a French Champagne or dry Sparkling Wine without the fizz and tiny bubbles.  I really liked its unique taste.  It has the acidity, crispness, and finish that remind you of a Sparkling Wine.  But it also has the citrus fruit and a touch of oak to remind you that it’s still a white wine.  This wine was terrific with a mixed salad and grilled chicken.

If you’re looking to try a white wine that’s a bit off the beaten path, give this one a shot.  I think that you’ll like it a lot – I give it 3 Stars.  The 2007 St. Hallet Poacher’s Blend is a strange bird, but I really enjoyed it and would buy it again.

WineLife365 Rating: 3-Star

Please put down the weekend section of your newspaper, pull up a chair, and grab a plate of spaghetti and meatballs along with a wine glass, because I want to share with you two wines this evening – a white, and one red that flat out pounded my taste buds like Ryan Howard taking batting practice.

First up, was a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand.  By now, everyone should know that Marlborough is home to some of the tastiest Sauvignon Blancs on earth, right?  So, I came across a name that I’d never heard of before and decided to give it a “taste drive”.  This 2008 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was called Ponga.  I was drawn to this white wine for three reasons:  First, I love - I mean really LOVE New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; second, it was a new wine (at least to me); and third, it was priced under $10…which you don’t see very often when it comes to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

So how was the 2008 Ponga?  Well, not very good in my opinion.  It was of a lesser quality than many of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs that I’ve tasted so far this year.  It lacked that familiar grassiness and crisp acidity that I love about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and it had a very odd tasting nectarine and citrus flavor that didn’t do much for me.  Finally, there was absolutely no finish in the finale of this wine to convince me to purchase it again.

Unfortunately, I have to give the 2008 Ponga 2 stars out of 4.  It wasn’t completely dreadful, but it was pretty far off from the delicious “Marlborough Gold” costing just a few dollars more.

Next up on this Friday evening was the red, which came from the Stags Leap District in beautiful Napa Valley, California.  It was a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon called Angels Landing.  If you didn’t already know, the Stag’s Leap District is home to some the finest made Cabernet Sauvignons in the world.  However, precision-made Cabs from this part of the Napa neighborhood, in normal economic times, usually fetch prices between $50 to ”the sky is the limit”.  But times are tough these days and everyone is feeling the pinch, even the wine industry.  Which is why this a great time to discover lots of wines at bargain prices, if you’re willing to look for them and give them a try!  Such was the case with this obscure looking Cabernet Sauvignon from Angels Landing.  This wine was priced at $19.99 a bottle and had a label that I had never seen before.  But I thought, $20 for a Stags Leap District wine – it’s gotta be at least halfway decent?!  So, I picked up a bottle of this “unknown” Cab to see for myself if it was indeed as “heavenly” as I imagined it.

So, was the 2007 Angels Landing Cabernet Sauvignon heaven on earth?  You bet your sweet bippy it was - and then some!  I only have one word to describe this California Cab - WOW!!  If you’re looking for a flawless California Cab, then this just might be the best buy on the market right now.  Again, I paid $19.99 for this California Cab and it tasted more like a $50 dollar bottle of wine.  I could go on and on about this wine, but I’ll stop right now to allow you to head straight over to your local wine establishment to buy as much of it as you possibly can!  This wine will blow your mind – trust me!

I give the 2007 Angels Landing Cabernet Sauvignon 4 Stars!  I would strongly encourage you to purchase as much of this wine as you can before it’s all gone.

From: France

Price: $12.99

After experiencing a stream of “lab rat” red wine concoctions from California so far this year, I thought that it was time to get away from the US and taste some French red wines to see if they were any better.  I grabbed a bottle of this French Rhone blend in the hopes of finding a solid, old world style red wine that would excite me. 

Unfortunately, this French country wine or “Vin De Pays” did nothing to restore my confidence that a great tasting red wine under $15 bucks could be found, if you were willing to look for it. 

I found this red Rhone blend of 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 10% Carignan, and 5% Merlot grapes to be rather boring.  In my opinion, the fruit lacked the spiciness and richness of other red wines that I’ve experienced from this neck of the woods in the past.  Additionally, the label on this wine indicates that it has an alcohol content of 13% – and believe me you can taste it.  Finally, the herbal flavors that also characterize wines from this French region were also rather subdued and bland tasting to me.

All in all, I found the 2004 Montirius “Le Cadet” just to be pleasant, but rather uninspiring.  I did however appreciate that it tasted like a “real” wine and not manufactured.

I give it 2 Stars – there’s just not enough flavors popping to warrant a 3 Star rating.

WineLife365 Rating: 2-Star