Quote:
Originally Posted by aldukes
I'm on a late fall white wine kick lately so I'm pushing back the Clos de los Siete.
I'm really into Vouvray right now- Vouvray is always 100% Chenin Blanc.
Producer: Domaine de Vaufuget
Vintage: 2007
Region: Taurine ,Loire, France
Price: $11
Sight: Clear, bright straw color
Nose: Apple, pear, lime, charcoal, white flowers
Palate: Apple, citrus, lots of chalk, slight almond sweetness,touch of copper on the finish (in a good way)
Very simple wine with great fruit flavors and enough acid to cut through the Mexican food I had it with. Touch of sweetness, even a little salty too.
|
NICE!!
Not that I'm a huge wine expert but the subject certainly does interest me and I could talk about it for a long time but I'll try and keep this relatively short:
Vouvray is a very nice and little known fairly dry white. My ex-wife/fiance (don't ask, LMAO!) Kathleen, is the Tasting Room Manager at
Hopkins Vineyard in western Connecticut. She know a lot about wine (from drinking A LOT of it, LOL!) and likes Vouvray (as you said, made from Chenin Blanc grapes) and she also likes Pinot Grigio. We both like drier wines.
Hopkins Vineyard is the largest of the 30 or so vineyards in Connecticut and by largest, I say by the number of acres of grapes they grow (~35 acres). Sharpe Hill in Pomfret, CT claims they are the "largest" based on total number of cases sold per year because they import quite a few of their grapes and juices. Almost all of Hopkins' wines are "estate grown" meaning they grow the grapes there in Warren, CT on their property.
Kathleen played a big part in designing a new European-style Rose (drier than what most people think of when you talk about Rose), it's called "Lady Rose" but you can't find it on their website because it's new this year. Since it was an experiment, they only made 130 cases and it sold out in ten weeks. They hope to make quite a bit more for next year so be sure to watch for it on their site. I'll post back here when it's available.
Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are damn near impossible to grow in Connecticut so a few of the vineyards here grow Cabernet Franc grapes which is sometimes called the "grandfather" of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Cab Francs tend to be drier than most Cabernet Sauvignons and are not quite as full bodied as your average Cabernet Sauvignon. Hopkins' Cab Franc is IMO the BEST one you'll find from CT vineyards. The 2005 was fantastic but it just sold out last weekend (I got one of the last cases!). And yes, it noticeably varies from year to year. The 2002 was a great one and the 2003 was "not good" when it first came out but as the year went on, it seemed to markedly improve in the bottle. 2004 was a bad growing year here in CT so what little Cab Franc grapes they grew all went into the Red Barn Red blend so there was no Cabernet Franc from Hopkins in 2004.
Hopkins also makes two very good sparkling wines, Gold Label and Silver Label and I love them both.
I'm also a huge Bordeaux fan along with Cabernet Sauvignon. Bordeauxs are blends with mostly Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, along with a little Merlot and sometimes a little Cabernet Franc thrown in along with Petit Verdot. I've never had a first growth label Bordeaux (since most are high three figures per bottle) but I've had a second growth one and it was wonderful (Chateau Lascombes Margaux 2003). Check out the "Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855" to see what I'm talking about.
I'm still trying to figure out the difference between a "grape" (Cabernet Franc) and a "region" (ie "Bordeaux"). One of these days, I hope to "get it", LOL!
The world of wine is very similar to cigars, drink what you like and like what you drink. Fancy, expensive wines are nice but there are some great wines out there for $10.00 to $15.00 a bottle.
By the way, GREAT THREAD!
