Domaine des Rouet Chinon 2010

The house style is one of fruit forward Cabernet Franc aromas and flavors. This medium bodied and silky wine is filled with strawberries, red currants and cherries on the palate, and has an elegant finish.

The Estate is now certified organic in France. Jean François is also applying some biodynamic ideas into the grape growing and the wine making.

Both light and dark meat pair incredibly well with this wine. Fish, cheese and stewed fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, or yellow peaches are a wonderful accompaniment to this well balanced wine.

Gaec de Brangers Menetou Salon Blanc 100% Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and refreshing with rich, ripe lime and grapefruit aromas. Elegant, beautifully rounded, harmonious and well-balanced, a mineral sytle and a smooth and long finish. It is ideal as an aperitif and a great match with shellfish, smoked and grilled salmon, goat cheese.
DOMAINE DU GAEC DES BRANGERS is owned by the CHAVET family, which is one of the most reknown winemaking families of the Menetou-Salon Appellation. Philippe Chavet has been running the estate for 25 years and each year, his cuvees are awarded in the international competitions and by the international press.

Unoaked

12.5 ABV

Average age of the vines is 20 years old. Traditional winemaking in temperature-controlled stainless steel tank.
Slow fermentation at low temperature.

Ideal as an aperitif, any cooked fish such as smoked and grilled salmon, and with goat cheese.

Review:

"The outstanding 2017 Menetou Salon Blanc (100% Sauvignon Blanc) is a winner. Lovely honeyed citrus, pear, and a kiss of rocky mineral-like notes all flow to a medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, juicy white that has all kinds of charm and character. It’s going to be incredibly versatile on the dinner table and is well worth seeking out."

- Jeb Dunnuck (March 27th 2019), 90 pts

Domaine Charles Pere & Fille Volnay Premier Cru Fremiets is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.

Terroir Soil : Very thin soil with rocks near earth's surface Exposition : South East Average age : 30 years Surface area : 0.6 hectare Yield : 38 hl/ha

Winemaking:Fully destemmed, then vatted for about 15 days and aged in French oak barrels for 18 months. Grapes are picked by hand and transported in small crates in order to prevent berries from being crushed. With the same concern for quality, bunches and grapes are sorted again as soon as they reach the cellar.

Tasting notes: Nice shades of violet and garnet red. On the nose, violet and cherry notes. A wine with a good attack, silky tannins, elegance and, above all, nice length.

Food pairing suggestions: It perfectly complements venison marinade, Bresse chicken. 

Review:

From the Pommard side of Volnay, this wine straddles the smoothness of a Volany with the structure of a Pommard. It offers both immediate richness and ripe black fruits along with a core of dark tannins that will allow this wine to age. Drink from 2022.- Wine Enthusiast 91 Points

Domaine Mus de Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir

Nice red color, with garnet-red shades.
Expressive and charming on the nose with nice flower notes (violet, peony).
On the palate, fresh and round, a fine and elegant red wine on red fruit notes (cranberries, redcurrants), with a beautiful balance. A nice length, with a soft spicy finish. A beautiful Mediterranean expression of the variety.

The average age of the vines is 11 years old.

Traditional winemaking. A very special attention is paid to the health state of the crop, harvested when fully matured. Complete destemming. Macerating in vats during 5 weeks, under heat monitoring. Fermentation under the effect of selected yeasts. End of fermentation under control of the temperature. When the fermenting process is achieved, free-run and press wines are kept separately and sometimes partly or totally blended, according to the vintage aromatic and gustatory expression. Ageing in vats until bottling.

Closeout!

Alain Jaume Domaine du Clos de Sixte Lirac  is made from 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre

An intense red garnet color. On the nose, aromas of red and black ripe fruit (kirsch and wild blackberry). The mouth is full, with aromas of blackcurrant liqueur and spice. Tannins are both harmonious and elegant thanks to the fleshiness of the wine. Hints of licorice and vanilla on the finish, which gives the wine length and complexity.

Soil type LIRAC vineyard is facing Chateauneuf du Pape, opposite side of the Rhône river. As showed by the picture and following geologist George Truc, soils are almost similar in both side. They are marked by the violence wrought by the Rhone river. It consists of a layer of marine molasses of the Miocene period covered by alpine alluvium. The presence of a great number of rounded stones known as "galets" in the earth is evidence of the time when the Rhone, then a torrent, tore fragments of rock from the Alps and deposited them on the plain. LIRAC is one of the up-coming best area from the southern Rhône valley, as it delivers outstanding wines. Winemaking & ageing Traditional wine-making in stainless still vats. Hand sorted bunches, crushed and destemmed grapes. Fermentation temperature : 30°C. 18 days of vatting with pigeages.

Review:

"The 2016 Lirac Domaine du Clos de Sixte is a terrific wine, easily the rival to many Châteauneufs from across the river, starting with its alluring aromas of flowering garrigue and ripe cherries. A blend of 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah and 15% Mourvèdre, this full-bodied wine is lush and concentrated on the palate, then turns velvety on the long finish. I'd treat it like a Châteauneuf du Pape in terms of cellaring: hold it for a few years, then drink it over the next 15. - Joe Czerwinski"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 233, October 2017), 93+ pts

Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet Classic is made from 100% Melon de Bourgogne

This vintage claims to be “Classic” purely to set itself apart from the tendancy to promote wines whose aromas have their origin neither in the variety of grape nor in the locality...This Muscadet is developed and vinified to be appreciated young “on the fruit”. It is crystal clear and the color of yellow straw. Lime, grapefruit, white fruits, pear and apple, salty and citrus notes are generously present on the nose. 
The mouth is rich, straight, providing a beautiful acid screen; lime and soft notes of the sea provide a good balance and a great freshness in this Muscadet, superb landmarks which stretch to the end....

GRAPE-VARIETY: Melon de Bourgogne. (Local name of the Muscadet grape)

SURFACE: 4.50 ha (11.12 acres).
AGE OF VINES: 30-35 years old.
CARACTERISTICS OT THE TERRITORY: Loire Valley vineyard
Orientation of the slopes is WEST and NORTH WEST.
Soil is Siliceous with a sub-soil of metamorphic rock.
PRODUCTION: 45 hl/ha
Soil ploughing and soil scraping. Canopy management.
PRUNING: Simple Guyot.
VINIFICATION AND REFINING:
Organicly farmed since 1975.
Biodynamic – Demeter certified since 1998
- 100 % hand-picked grapes
- Reception of the grape harvest by gravity.
- No use of pumps.
- Pneumatic pressing.
- No racking of the must.
- Fermentation 100 % natural yeast.
- Aged “on the lees” in underground vats
covered with glass tiles during 14 months.

This Muscadet would be a good accompaniment to a seafood platter, an oily fish, a white meat or would, of course, be the ideal companion to your aperitif.

Review:

"Charming, with a generous profile, exhibiting notes of pear, accented by hints of white pepper and coriander. A salty detail lingers on the persistent, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2023. 3,000 cases made, 500 cases imported. - AZ"
- Wine Spectator (December 2019), 90 pts