WHITE WINES: FRANCE

+MUST TRY+
Domaine du Haut Bourg
France: Loire Valley (Muscadet Cotes De Grandlieu)
Melon De Bourgogne (white)
2013
Under $20
92 pts
My wine of summer 2016? Just found it. Fresh grass, honey dew melon, pear...with hints of Lemon Pledge and rocks...think cool water filtered naturally through granite, limestone or gravel. Perfect summer white for dining! An almost decadent mouth feel, light but ripe, with fine length. Enough acid to hold up to cheese, fish, sushi and some lightly-oiled pastas. Absolutely delicious wine. For under $20? A FREAKING STEAL. Looks like it's available at Binny's. First glass tastes as good (or better) than the third. Enough said.

+MUST TRY+
Marc Bredif Vouvray Classic
France: Loire Valley (Touraine, Vouvray, east of Tours)
Chenin Blanc (white)
2010
18.99
90 pts
For the French, it's all about the terroir, the unique character of an area's soil, topography, climate, and geo-history. While I've been aware

+MUST TRY+
Marc Bredif Vouvray Classic
France: Loire Valley (Touraine, Vouvray, east of Tours)
Chenin Blanc (white)
2010
18.99
90 pts
For the French, it's all about the terroir, the unique character of an area's soil, topography, climate, and geo-history. While I've been aware of this notion for some years now, it was tonight's tasting of the Marc Bredif Vouvray Classic that sold me once-and-for-all on its validity. Never before have I tasted Chenin Blanc like THIS. Forget about that sweetened alcoholic Kool-Aid you've had; Chenin Blanc from France's Loire Valley is serious business, capable of rich, multifaceted flavor, a crisp dryness, a memorable mouth feel, and tremendous length. This Vouvray Classic is full of peaches and nuts (perhaps the nuttiest wine I've ever had, just wonderful). The initial attack is peach (hing of pear?), followed by flower petal and lip-licking butter (like popcorn butter), before a big finish featuring a mouthful of the tastiest nuts (hazelnut?) you've ever had. The length is outstanding, and the multidimensional flavor profile transitions effortlessly from one feature to the next (the butter serves to hold it all together). The cost--just under $20 a bottle at Binny's--is remarkable, given the satisfying taste, lush feel, and high degree of interest provided. Without question, this is the best new wine I've tried in the last year--and I highly recommend you try it, too!   

Chateau La Hargue Bordeaux - White Blend (by Vignobles DuCourt)France: Bordeaux Region, Chateau La Hargue (a 32-acre property adjacent to Ladaux village)
Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon (white)
2006
8.98 (for 375 ml, 1/2 bottle)
84 pts
While France's Bordeaux region is legendary for its wonderful, time-tested reds--and, located in southwestern France, is the largest wine-making region on our planet--Bordeaux produces some interesting whites, too...or so I've read, and thus I decided to try one. This wine, the Chateau La Hargue Bordeaux, possesses the grassy, herb-like taste (and nose) common to white Bordeaux blends. It has a bitterness to it, with perhaps a very, very small hint of peach. I found the finish mediocre at best, and while I suppose herb-tasting wines are an acquired taste--although I do prefer drier wines, and this is dry--this one just isn't my cup of tea. Not sure at this point if I don't care for these varietals, or if this is just a mediocre wine, but I suspect it's probably a little of both. Not nasty, but also not something I'm eager to drink, again...especially as it would run about $20.00 for a full bottle.