What I'm Excited about This Week: French Regional Fabulosity
This week, Keith Mabry brought us on a winding little trip through some of the smaller regions that he sources from for his particular buying portfolio. I've talked before about how diverse and varied his regions are, and this staff tasting was a great tour of them.
We went through Provence into Corsica, which really was impressive with some pretty unique grape varieties I hadn't tried before—both Sciaccarellu and Niellucciu were new to me personally and both were really tasty and available to try at very reasonable prices. Check out the 2022 Domaine Petroni Corse Rouge $14.99 and 2024 Domaine de Marquiliani "Gris de Marquiliani" Vin de Corse Rosé $24.99 for some great examples of those local grapes—they were extremely delicious.
From there we went to Languedoc-Rousillon, which really had some great wines—this is a larger region in the Southern part of France. It grows a lot of Carignan, Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, and Mourvedre for the red grapes, and, for white, they principally grow Picpoul, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, and Roussane.
Then we tried some wines from the Jura and some fortified and dessert wines from Maury and Rivesaltes. It's always really nice when we get to end on a sweet note; it makes the tasting feel a little bit more complete when we go through as wide a range of wines as possible, making it feel a little bit more like a guided tour than just a tasting.
Ultimately the true beauty of these tastings is that they really force you out of your own comfort zone. Even as professionals, we absolutely crawl into our own little preferred wine niches and often indulge in just the wines we want or crave, which, of course, is totally fine for someone to do. Even though I tried wines that weren't necessarily my style, I really found it easier to appreciate them in a lineup like this. We move on quickly to the next one, but later when I go to write my review, that's when I get to sit and contemplate. That first little exposure was enough to get me thinking, and then when I can sit down and more deeply assess the wine, I find myself a little bit more open-minded. I've been told before that you should taste something no less than three times before you form an opinion on it, and I haven't regretted trying to follow that advice. Despite the comfort of our wine niches, it is also very healthy to be forced into the sunshine and to try new things. That's what my mother tells me at least.
2021 Domaine des Carlines "La Vouivre" Chardonnay-Savagnin Côtes du Jura $24.99 Sometimes you get caught off-guard by a wine, and this was definitely a surprise this morning, but a very pleasant one so there's that. The nose has just a touch of popcorn butter on it, and behind that some toasty oak spice, which sort of mentally set the stage for something round and fat, but this was actually a lithe li’l guy. There's definitely a good amount of richness, but there's enough acidity that it lightens the overall palate. There's delicious gold and green apple notes with lots of lemon and a lingering finish. At this price, this is such a compelling bottle of wine. It's drinking absolutely fantastic right now and it's such an easy choice. Roast chicken, check. Salmon, check. Pork chops, sure, check on that one too. I could see having this with all kinds of things and every one of those things in my mind is delicious and each pairing works perfectly. Maybe it was a daydream, or maybe I'm just really hyped on this wine. Either way, I highly suggest it.
2023 Clos de l'Anhel "Lolo de l'Anhel" Corbières $14.99 Another lovely little raspberry darling, this is just such a juicy and friendly wine I just want to give it a hug. The nose is just ripe raspberry juice and fruit leather with a little bit of herbal complexity on the end. The palate is super fresh and vibrant, really nice acidity without really being tart, and then just more friendly raspberry with a little bit of blackberry and cherry towards the finish. This would be amazing with just a little chill on it served with like some pork skewers, a roast chicken, or even something like a ratatouille. This is the perfect wine for the summer, when you just want something a touch heavier than a Pinot but with all the lovely fruit. With a chill the tannin will help grip just a touch more, making it that much more food friendly. It's just a great time to be had in bottle form, and at under $15 for the whole thing, it's a bottle you hopefully don't have to think twice about opening.
2020 Domaine de Bila-Haut "Occultum Lapidem" Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France $19.99 93-95JD 92JS The nose, even after a few hours to open further is still very dense and savory. The fruit is inky black, with stewed black cherries, blackberry compote with herbs, and violets. The nose is very savory, but in an inviting and intriguing way, a way that makes me sad I don't have a little bit of something to eat right now while I taste the wine—but we must soldier on. The palate is super dark and dusty on the front, with the same fruit but with hints of cocoa and then underneath there's lighter and riper fruit showing through, the line of acidity pushing through not too forcefully with a really nice balance. This is a savory little treat, excellent for when you want a wine with more power but not something that's going to have too much fruit, if you're against that sort of thing. This is a lot of wine for the money and we have some of the very best pricing on this, get it while you can, because once it starts to cool down a bit you're going to want this with all your stews and roast beasts.
2019 Domaine Hauvette "Cornaline" Alpilles Rouge $64.99 There's so much going on the nose—there's just such a density of aroma it's a little overwhelming at first. There's a little bit of horsiness at the front, but that slowly gives way to some gorgeous floral fruit. There's a bit of potpourri in there along with crunchy light red fruit and also some blackberries, and then a little bit of green pepper pyrazine and cedar at the very finish. The palate really lovely, with a little bit of that pyrazine showing, but then it goes right into crunchy and ripe red fruits, a little bit of cranberry, but also raspberry and even some black cherry towards the very end, there's a really nice grip of tannin but nothing that just a bite of food couldn't completely smooth out. This is such an impressive and serious wine, something you could put up against anything else France has to offer and probably give whatever it was a run for it's money. Sometimes you just feel lucky you got a wine introduced to you, and this is one of those.
The last wine, the 2019 Domaine Hauvette "Cornaline" Alpilles Rouge is being poured Saturday, August 2nd and really is worth the price of entry alone. The lineup that Keith put together for that tasting looks just fantastic. These wines are from the parts of France that aren't as well-known from the outside, but once you actually just try the wines you totally understand that there's more out there than Bordeaux and Burgundy—and even though we love the famous wines, it's nice to try something unexpected now and then. Allow yourself to be pushed a little outside your comfort zone, and you might discover your new favorite mid-week banger bottle, or a wine so special you feel compelled to buy a case just to share it with everyone you know. The really special part tends to happen most when you're outside your comfort zone and then you're just so pleasantly surprised by what you find hiding outside of it.