I fondly remember falling in love with Paris long ago, grinning with delight as I sat at a classic sidewalk café, proudly using my fractured French to summon a little pitcher of cheap red wine.
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Le Garenne Pinot Noirbears the most basic French wine classification, “Vin de France.” It’s 100% Pinot Noir, though, and both its Pinot and Loire characteristics show in a tasty, affordable everyday red wine. Ruby red and faintly hazy, its appealing aromas blend ripe cranberries with pleasant notes of tomato skin, tobacco leaf, and brown spices. Good Pinot fruit is framed by food-friendly acidity and light tannic astringency that lingers with tart cranberry fruit in a long finish.
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Check prices and find vendors for Le Garenne Pinot Noir on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read about the wines of France’s Loire Valley at this Wine-Searcher link.
Click this link for Wine-Searcher’s info page on Pinot Noir. Read article.
In these troubled times, it feels awkward to celebrate Independence Day this year. As a tiny act of patriotic resistance, I’m opening a wine from Europe.
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A blend of traditional Austrian grapes, Meinklang 2022 Burgenland red is biodynamically produced, made and aged in stainless steel, and bottled unfiltered and unfined with low added sulfur. It’s earthy and enjoyable, starting with tart plum and blackberry aromas alongside earthy but appealing red clay and leather, with leafy notes of mint in the background.
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Check prices and find vendors for Meinklang Burgenland red on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read about Austria’s Burgenland wine region at this Wine-Searcher link.
Head for this Wine-Searcher link to find vendors and prices for a range of Meinklang’s wines. Read article.
I sometimes wonder what inspired the first Veneto winemaker who mused, “Hmmm. What if we dried all these grapes before we make them into wine?”
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A blend of 60% Merlot and 40% of the local red Veneto grape Corvina, “Gran Passione” Veneto Rosso is made in the style of the Veneto’s iconic Amarone, but it builds intensity by leaving the grapes on the vines to air-dry before pressing. Then, as with the region’s Ripasso wines, they leave the pressed skins in the juice after fermentation to yield still more concentration.
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Check prices and find vendors for Gran Passione on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read about Northeastern Italy’s Veneto region at this Wine-Searcher link.
This Wine-Searcher link offers more information about Casa Vinicola Botter, producer of Gran Passione. Read article.
The Tuscan red I picked up the other day listed 15% alcohol. Whoa! That, as the saying goes, “ain’t natural.” But does this potent dose hurt the wine?
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“Virtue signaling,” boasting of your good works to brag or to show an example, is controversial. Is it good or bad? Can it happen on a wine label?
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Ripe with the scents of peaches, honeydew melons, and lemon zest, Lubanzi Swartland Chenin Blanc shows an attractive greenish-gold brass color in the glass. Its fresh and bright aromas carry over on the palate in a medium-bodied flavor with juicy fruit and zippy acidity adding appealing hints of stony minerality in a very long finish.
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Check prices and find vendors for Lubanzi Swartland Chenin Blanc on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read about South Africa’s Swartland wine region and find a selection of its wines at this Wine-Searcher link.
Go to this Wine-Searcher link for a broad overview of the Chenin Blanc grape and its styles around the world.
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“Ingredients: wine grapes & potassium metabisulfite.” These aren’t words we often see on a wine label. Do you think wine ingredient labeling is a good idea?
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