2009 George DuBoeuf Morgon (Cru Beaujoulais)

Hello everyone!! I have been wanting to try this wine for a while now. I have seen it mentioned several times and heard that Cru beaujoulais is the wine to try if you like fresh light French wines, but are not particularly fond of beaujousais nouveau. We had this wine with a salad consisting of chicken breast, dried cranberries, and blue cheese on a bed of lettuce. It was a very nice wine with the overall impression of being bright, fresh and vibrant. I believe that the bright (but not overpowering) acidity helped to give this fresh, vibrant liveliness. The color was deep garnet, which surprised me, as I was expecting the lighter, purplish color of a nouveau. The nose carried aromas of cherry and raspberry with a bit of vanilla. There was also a definite floral component which I found difficult to identify. On the palate it was very fruit forward and a little sweet with bright acidity and very soft tannins. It was light bodied but full flavored. The finish was soft and fruity. Overall it was not big, not particularly complex, but pleasant. I got this wine at McScrooge's for about $15. I would drink this wine as an alternative to rose. To me, this would be more interesting than a rose but pair well with many of the same foods.

2009 Pinot Noir D'Autrefois

Hello everyone!! I got a new stove this weekend! And to try it out I fixed game hens stuffed with farro. They were little gems of deliciousness. The acid of this wine cut through the richness of the little birds. It was a great pairing! I got this wine at Total Wines in Atlanta for $10. It was listed as a staff favorite, and at this price I just couldn't pass it up. The color was ruby, of medium depth. It had a very nice bouquet that rose up out of the glass to greet me. It contained aromas of plum, blueberry, vanilla and flowers (violets?). The flavor profile was true to the nose. What I really liked about this wine was the bright acidity. It had a freshness to it that was very complimentary to the food. Once again the French win me over with a well balanced, food friendly, elegant wine.

2007 Terre d'Ardoise Carignan Vieilles Vignes (Old Vine Carignan)

Hello everyone!! This was a beautiful little wine from Campbell Station Wine and Spirits. I believe I paid $11 or $12 for this little gem. I'm developing a real love of these light French reds. They are so very food friendly, and they happen to pair well with the foods that we eat, especially chicken and pork. This wine was a deep ruby red with a touch of brick at the edge of the glass. On the nose were aromas of toasty oak, raspberry, vanilla, a touch of licorice and a bit of dried leaf or mulch. The flavor was similar to the nose but what I really liked about this wine was the wonderful silky texture. It was nicely balanced, very smooth and pleasant to drink. The body was light to medium. We had this wine with chicken in shallot sauce, roast broccoli, and Italian bread. It was delicious! I ran right out and bought two more bottles.

2008 Rosteau Cotes du Rhone Villages

Hello all!! I really enjoyed this wine tonight!! It has been sitting around for awhile, so I'm not sure were I got it or what I paid for it, but I think it came from Bob's and I probably paid $15 to $20 for it. We had this wine with roast chicken (with garlic) and broccoli salad with pine nuts, onion, and sundried tomatoes. I wanted a nice bright, but fairly light red wine. I get a little tired of pairing roast chicken with chardonnay. This was actually a very nice pairing. The wine was light, but fresh and lively. It was very nice with the strong flavors of the garlic and broccoli. The color was a translucent ruby. The nose was of blueberry, strawberry and a little earthiness or forest aroma. The flavor was like the nose but it had a some added spiciness and a bit of rootbeer. It had soft tannins and a lingering finish. Overall, it was similar to a burgundian pinot noir but a little bit heavier. It was light bodied, elegant and complex. It must have been good because it inspired a philosophical conversation on the acceptance of ones mortality with maturity. I need to find more of this. And, while many '08's need to be aged a little more, this wine is ready to drink.

2008 Domaine de Couron Cotes du Rhone Villages

Hello everyone! This wine is the younger brother to the previous wine, from the same producer, so bear with me as I can't help but compare the two wines. I tasted this at the Second Harvest wine tasting sponsored by Campbell Station Wines and Spirits and then we took home a bottle. It is a bllend of syrah and grenache. I believe it also sells for $15 to $18 a bottle. This wine is similar to the 100% syrah, but a little rougher, with tannins that are not as well integrated. It's also a 2008, whereas the previous wine was a 2006 vintage. I liked this wine, but I do believe it would become more rounded with a few years in the bottle. We had this wine with pizza at home. Not as bad a pairing as you might think, because I make this pesto pizza with spinach, mushroom and goat cheese that is always too light for a classic Italian pizza wine. Al always makes a second more traditional pizza with red sauce and mozzarella. So picking out a wine for pizza night is a bit of a problem. This wine was pretty good with both, not a great pairing, but ok with both pizzas.

The color was very inky and dark with a rim of purple at the edge of the glass. The nose was of cherry and vanilla with a bit of licorice. Much like the previous wine, this one nicely coats the palate. It's not a heavy wine, but has a medium body, just a little lighter than the 100% syrah. The flavor profile included lots of currents, some cherry, a little vanilla, black tea, and a hint of licorice. This is a very nice wine, and I may pick up another bottle while I'm there purchasing several bottles of the 100% syrah.

2006 Domain de Couron Cotes du Rhone 100% Syrah

Hello everyone!!

We're back in Knoxville now and we have had a couple of very nice wines this past weekend, especially this one! We attended the Second Harvest wine tasting hosted by Campbell Station Wines and Spirits. This event is always held on the second Saturday of the month from 4 to 6 pm. Both this wine and the next one I will blog were featured at this tasting. We came back from the tasting and I cooked lamb chops, brussel sprouts and spinach. I decided that the syrah would be a great pairing with the lamb, and it was! A bite of lamb and then a sip of wine and back and forth because they complimented each other so well.

The color was a deep ruby to garnet. The nose was big but not huge with aromas of cherry, raspberry, licorice and subtle forrest scents. On the palate it started out as fruit forward with cherry and blackberry flavors. As it opened it became less fruity and flavors of licorice, dark chocolate and black tea became more apparent. Both early on and after opening the flavors were smooth and velvety and coated the entire palate. The tannins were firm, but smooth. We loved this wine! It was big and round without being overpowering. It was elegant and controlled. If this wine were a dinner guest, it would be William F. Buckley: smooth, elegant, witty and conservative. If syrah can be like this, it explains all the new world plantings of the grape. What I don't understand is why some producers make such big, overly muscled, gloppy wines when they could be making something elegant and refined like this.

I paid $16.50 at Campbell Station Wines and Spirits and I'm planning on running back over there and picking up a few more bottles for later.

Cotes Du Rhone Villages Montreuil Red Wine of France

Sorry, I could not find a year on this bottle. I actually picked this up at a grocery store here, in Quebec, to have one evening in our room. It was $15, and I believe I've seen this in the states. It's a blend of syrah and grenache. It was a nice little wine, and true to its type. It was fairly light in appearance and in taste, with a ruby to garnet color. The nose was raspberry, blackberry, and a little vanilla. There was an added touch of spiciness (orange rind?) on the palate. It had a soft and silky feel in the mouth. The finish was soft and rounded, pleasant but not terribly long. We had this wine with sandwiches in the condo kitchenette. It was nice with the sandwiches, which were loaded up with veggies. This would pair nicely with chicken, turkey, salmon, etc. You could have it when you would normally serve a burgundian pinot. As a person, this wine would be the dinner guest who gets along well with others, a quiet, pleasant guy.