scottreiner
scott reiner
On a recent Sunday the weather forced us to eat outside. Early May, 80 degrees, sunny..., the choice really was not ours to make. We decided to grill a simple steak and many, many veggies and mushrooms. All very simple. To drink, we wanted to follow the simple but delicious theme. Nothing too crazy, nothing to expensive, everything had to be delicious and refreshing, though. We in the end chose six wines, each showed well and will continue to shine throughout this summer. These are all simply happy wines!
First off, not because it was the lightest wine, but because I had not tried the current release yet and was chomping at the bit, was the 2009 Berbard Baudry Chinon Rose. Every year this wine is one of the greats. 100% Cab Franc, this wine could really be nothing else. But, more importantly, it is amazingly delicious. The fruit and the acid constantly dancing on your tongue in the most subtle, yet at the same tim flamboyant, way. Perfection. And, because it has both pleasure and precision, it works for both the geek and the glugger!
Next up was our first white, 2009 Le P'tit Blanc du Tue Boeuf from the Puzelats. 100% Sauvignon Blanc from the Touraine in the Western Loire Valley. Very drinkable stuff with nice ripe 2009 fruits, but also the acidity required that Thierry Puzelat works so hard to maintain. Easy, cheap, chuggable, refreshing, delicious... Just go for it.
At this point we, or at least I, wanted a lighter red. I have loved the wines of Olivier Lemasson since the first second I tried them. Again from the Touraine in the Loire, Olivier works naturally to make fruity and delicious and immensely quaffable wines. We chose one of the earlier drinking wines in his wonderful portfolio, the 2009 Les Vins Contes Poivre et Sel Rouge VdT. This is 50% Gamay and 50% Pineau d'Aunis, a lovely local grape that I suggest you research further. Light, lovely and lean fruit with a bit of white pepper from the Pineau d'Aunis. You can't stop drinking this food friendly wine, until the bottle is done and you open up the...
2009 Tue Boeuf La Butte Gamay. Not heavier than the Poivre et Sel, but with more direct and juicy fruit. This is a relatively new wine from the Puzelat boys, and is perfect alcoholic fruit punch. But, as this is both the Loire and the Puzelats, the alcohol is low. It is just so enjoyable, vibrantly fruity. I have had some bottle variation with this wine though. I've never had a bad bottle, but sometimes the fruit just sings, other times it merely hums. Today's bottle was closer to humming, but was nevertheless a crowd pleaser.
Going back to rose, we next opened a 2009 Commanderie de Peyrassol Coteaux de Provence Rose. The wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault, and is, again like the Baudry, a favorite every year. If you want to see what it means to be a Provence Rose, search no further. Drinking it makes you feel as if you were in a small fishing village in the South of France. It is all about perfectly balanced and reserved fruitiness, tamed by the acidity. Amazing on its own, food only brings more joy.
We decided to end with a white, but one that was the most 'serious' of the day's wines, the 2008 Rene Mosse Anjou Blanc. 100% Chenin Blanc. When we opened the wine it was fully chilled in ice and was a bit closed. After it had had some time to warm up, we were in the game. So many flavors and levels covered the palate. But, for me more than anything else, the love this wine gives comes from the mouth feel. This wine is outrightly sensuous. But, DON'T DRINK YOUR WHITES TOO COLD!!!
If this post has a message, I guess it's this: you can drink like a god for very little money. Every wine listed above, all but the Mosse under $20 retail, some WELL under, supports this proposition! Summer wine season has begun!
First off, not because it was the lightest wine, but because I had not tried the current release yet and was chomping at the bit, was the 2009 Berbard Baudry Chinon Rose. Every year this wine is one of the greats. 100% Cab Franc, this wine could really be nothing else. But, more importantly, it is amazingly delicious. The fruit and the acid constantly dancing on your tongue in the most subtle, yet at the same tim flamboyant, way. Perfection. And, because it has both pleasure and precision, it works for both the geek and the glugger!
Next up was our first white, 2009 Le P'tit Blanc du Tue Boeuf from the Puzelats. 100% Sauvignon Blanc from the Touraine in the Western Loire Valley. Very drinkable stuff with nice ripe 2009 fruits, but also the acidity required that Thierry Puzelat works so hard to maintain. Easy, cheap, chuggable, refreshing, delicious... Just go for it.
At this point we, or at least I, wanted a lighter red. I have loved the wines of Olivier Lemasson since the first second I tried them. Again from the Touraine in the Loire, Olivier works naturally to make fruity and delicious and immensely quaffable wines. We chose one of the earlier drinking wines in his wonderful portfolio, the 2009 Les Vins Contes Poivre et Sel Rouge VdT. This is 50% Gamay and 50% Pineau d'Aunis, a lovely local grape that I suggest you research further. Light, lovely and lean fruit with a bit of white pepper from the Pineau d'Aunis. You can't stop drinking this food friendly wine, until the bottle is done and you open up the...
2009 Tue Boeuf La Butte Gamay. Not heavier than the Poivre et Sel, but with more direct and juicy fruit. This is a relatively new wine from the Puzelat boys, and is perfect alcoholic fruit punch. But, as this is both the Loire and the Puzelats, the alcohol is low. It is just so enjoyable, vibrantly fruity. I have had some bottle variation with this wine though. I've never had a bad bottle, but sometimes the fruit just sings, other times it merely hums. Today's bottle was closer to humming, but was nevertheless a crowd pleaser.
Going back to rose, we next opened a 2009 Commanderie de Peyrassol Coteaux de Provence Rose. The wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault, and is, again like the Baudry, a favorite every year. If you want to see what it means to be a Provence Rose, search no further. Drinking it makes you feel as if you were in a small fishing village in the South of France. It is all about perfectly balanced and reserved fruitiness, tamed by the acidity. Amazing on its own, food only brings more joy.
We decided to end with a white, but one that was the most 'serious' of the day's wines, the 2008 Rene Mosse Anjou Blanc. 100% Chenin Blanc. When we opened the wine it was fully chilled in ice and was a bit closed. After it had had some time to warm up, we were in the game. So many flavors and levels covered the palate. But, for me more than anything else, the love this wine gives comes from the mouth feel. This wine is outrightly sensuous. But, DON'T DRINK YOUR WHITES TOO COLD!!!
If this post has a message, I guess it's this: you can drink like a god for very little money. Every wine listed above, all but the Mosse under $20 retail, some WELL under, supports this proposition! Summer wine season has begun!