Château de l'Aulée
Updated: 2012-09-30 18:18:16
Home Producer Profiles Loire Profiles Château de l'Aulée Page 1 of 3 previous 1 2 3 next Château de l'Aulée The Loire Valley has a long-established track record of sparkling wine production . The famous houses of Saumur , such as Langlois-Chateau and Bouvet-Ladubay turn out an inordinate number of bottles every year , making this region the second biggest producer of sparkling wine in the world , after Champagne itself of course . These houses have focused on sparkling wine and often produce dozens of different cuvées the vins tranquilles something of an afterthought . Elsewhere along the banks of the Loire , however , sparkling wine is not so predominant . It is easy to find of course , especially around Vouvray , but here as the case with Crémant de Loire and other sparkling appellations
The spectacle that was the 2012 Summer Olympic Games has now drawn to a close. The races have been run, the national anthems played, and victorious Olympians have received their medals and posies. And yet, even after two weeks of non-stop athletics, swimming, running and more, some unanswered questions remain. I'm sure they have been swirling about in your mind as well as mine. What, for instance, exactly is dressage all about? Why do athletes believe covering themselves with brightly-coloured sticky tape achieves anything at all? Why do some sports use a podium for the medal ceremony, and not others? How are the latest cuvées from Domaine de la Pépière tasting right now?
I think many readers of Winedoctor will already be familiar with the wines of Sancerre, and of François Cotat. I hope you will endure, however, a two- or three-sentence recap on the Cotat domaines before I write a little more on this wine. I know I get confused between the various Cotats in Sancerre, so I am sure that there are others out there (this is what I'm telling myself, anyway) who also fail to fully commit to memory which domaine is which, and which Cotat is which.
Home Wine of the Week Domaine d'Estoublon Blanc 2009 Domaine d'Estoublon Blanc 2009 Just a little more than a week ago I attended a really fascinating vertical tasting of Moulin Touchais the only wine of note to be produced by the Touchais family at their eponymous domaine , Vignobles Touchais which is located very close to Doué-la-Fontaine , south-west of Saumur , on the edge of the Anjou and Coteaux du Layon appellations . It was a remarkable tasting for many reasons , not least the amazing array of older vintages being poured , and naturally I have published my notes and a profile of Moulin Touchais this . week What , you might ask , has all this to do with Domaine d'Estoublon which as Languedoc savants will know is located in Fontvieille , near Arles , and not that far from France's
A brief update of this profile to reflect recent developments.
: , Home Vintages and Regions Bordeaux Bordeaux 1998 Tasting , August 2012 Page 1 of 3 previous 1 2 3 next Bordeaux 1998 : Tasting , August 2012 Vintage Review Bordeaux 1998 Tastings St Emilion , May 2004 Tasting , August 2008 Tasting , August 2012 I have expended a lot of energy reviewing some very recent Bordeaux vintages in the past few months . Obviously my Bordeaux 2011 report , published on my return from Bordeaux in April , has been a major part of this work , although not long before that I also updated my Bordeaux 2007 summary with new notes and opinions from the annual tasting at the Institute of Masters of Wine in London . Then , more recently , I compared and contrasted four vintages , 2008 to 2011 inclusive , following my encounter with them at the annual Grand Cru Classé
Following on from my renewed examination of the Bordeaux 1998 vintage a few weeks ago, and my expressed commitment to report on some more mature Bordeaux wines following all the news on 2011 and other very recent vintages, it is now time for another vintage to come under the spotlight. This is not, however, a comprehensive tasting. The handful of wines tasted here, all from the 1995 vintage in Bordeaux, were opened over dinner, during the course of a few evenings in August, not long after returning from my recent trip to from Bordeaux.
Home Producer Profiles Loire Profiles Domaine de Bel Air Page 1 of 2 previous 1 2 next Domaine de Bel Air As is the case with many estates that are dedicated to viticulture and this is just as true of the Loire today as it was of Bordeaux during the 17th century , Domaine del Bel-Air began life as a polycultural farm , handed down from one generation to the next . It was during the 1970s that viticulture began to dominate , although winemaking was yet to come at this point the fruit was sold to the co-operative at Oisly . Despite this , from the early days the viticultural methods were very simple , working the soils over the vines in winter to protect them , and avoiding the use of chemical herbicides and . insecticides It was in 1999 that Joël Courtault took the domaine in hand ,
Home Producer Profiles Bordeaux Profiles Château Filhot Page 1 of 3 previous 1 2 3 next Château Filhot Château Filhot was , for me , an early Sauternes discovery . A little less than two decades ago I recall the market was awash with 1990 Château Filhot and the bottles seemed to linger on the shelves for a very long time . For many years , every wine merchant , wine bar and even the occasional rough-and-ready corner-shop off-licence seemed to have its own stock of this vintage . It soon became what I referred to as the ubiquitous Sauternes In fact , Château Filhot is rather more ubiquitous than you might think . At 350 hectares this is the largest estate in the region , and even though only a small part of this is dedicated to viticulture the volumes produced here are still a lot greater
One of the benefits of spending a few days in Bordeaux for the primeurs is the opportunity to spend a little time not tasting but drinking, and not looking at the wines in isolation, but as they were intended to be consumed, along with food. I don't tend to partake in the very generous multi-vintage verticals and grand dinners that some châteaux organise, partly because I have no wish to party every night away in a fit of Bacchanalian excess that would see me incapable of tasting and concentrating the following morning, and partly because such events lean more towards tasting (multiple vintages) again, rather than the synthesis of a handful wines with food in a relaxed atmosphere.
When trying to cover a region such as the Loire in its entirety (and I deliberately inserted trying there - I am certainly a long way from succeeding when it comes to providing comprehensive coverage of the Loire) it is inevitable that the process will reveal personal preferences to one extent or another. In a region with such grand diversity, rich as it is in different terroirs, grape varieties, wine styles and winemaking philosophies, it is hardly surprising that some wines will appeal to my palate - or anyone else's palate - more than others. In fact it would be more unusual if I didn't have any preferences.
What? Me? Biased towards Muscadet? Perish the thought! I admit it though, I am biased towards the wines of this broadly unloved and misunderstood region. And why shouldn't I be? The wines offer everything great Chablis (which seems eternally popular) can provide - in a nutshell, wine from a non-aromatic grape variety that expresses terroir beautifully and ages just as well - and yet it remains a niche interest even among many wine professionals, partitioned off as something WSET Diploma candidates have to learn about, but which nobody actually drinks for pleasure.
Top Ten VintageTexas Blogs (by Views) in September 2012 Top Ten Texas Wines of 2011 from VintageTexas: Installment #1 – Five Wines VintageTexas ‘Cyclopedia of Wine: Vintage Charts Texas Wine: Is There Really Anything Behind The HoustonPress “Cellar Door” Article Texas Black Spanish – The Grape Otherwise Known as Lenoir So You Want to Grow [...]
And You Thought That Texas Wines Were Only for the Moment! Earlier this week I perused an online article on the Dallas Morning New website titled, “The best Texas wines — all made from Texas grapes” penned by Tina Danze. Tina brought together a panel of good Dallas tasters including: Blythe Beck, chef; Hunter Hammett, [...]
TXwine Twitter Tuesday Celebrates Texas Wine Month and Oktoberfest with Messina Hof Winery and Saint Arnold and Real Ale Breweries Austin’s Denise Fraser (@DeniseFraser) and Matt McGinnis (@MattMcGinnis), and Houston’s Jeff Cope (@TXwineLover) and I (@VintageTexas) invite you to join in the next TXwine Twitter Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, October 9th. [...]
: : Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook Too much of anything is bad , but too much Champagne is just . right Mark Twain AWB Home » The Label Project : Contest Clues for Wine 3 September 26, 2012 The Label Project : Contest Clues for Wine 3 By Another Wine Blog 3 Comments Tweet Share T his week Another Wine Blog is participating in The Label Project , a global initiative to go beyond the label , uncover the true character of the wine inside the bottle , and the uniqueness of the region behind it . We , as well as ,
: : Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook I saw this wino , he was eating grapes . I was like , Dude , you have to wait . Mitch Hedberg AWB Home » The Label Project Contest : Wine 2 Clues September 25, 2012 The Label Project Contest : Wine 2 Clues By Another Wine Blog 1 Comment Tweet Share A s we told you on Sunday , Another Wine Blog is participating in The Label Project , a global initiative to go beyond the label , uncover the true character of the wine inside the bottle , and the uniqueness of the region behind
: : Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook If a life of wine , women and song becomes too much , give up the singing . Anonymous AWB Home » The Label Project : Wine 1 Contest Clues September 24, 2012 The Label Project : Wine 1 Contest Clues By Another Wine Blog 3 Comments Tweet Share W e are participating in The Label Project , a global initiative to go beyond the label , uncover the true character of the wine inside the bottle , and the uniqueness of the region behind it . Over 140 bloggers from 12 different
Kiepersol Estates: A Wineslinger’s Swirl, Sniff and Taste of a Fine Texas Wine This was my first venture back into east Texas this year and the first since my previous visit to Kiepersol Estates that lead to the chapter in my book, The Wineslinger Chronicles. It was also my wife’s first trip to the domain [...]
: : Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others . Diogenes AWB Home » Wine Tasting Blind : The Label Project Contest September 23, 2012 Wine Tasting Blind : The Label Project Contest By Amy Corron Power 6 Comments Tweet Share P art of any respectable sommelier program includes identification of wines through only the wine student’s sensory perceptions . Be it the Court of Master Sommeliers Institute of Masters of Wines or International Sommelier Guild to name a few 
What I’m Drinking Tonight: CapRock Winery Toscano Bianco It’s been a “hard” couple days. I flew over to New Orleans for a few meetings. Then, I “had” to have dinner at Galatoire’s on Bourbon Street: lovely Oysters Rockefeller, turtle soup, salad and escargot in magnificent butter accompanied with a French Sauvignon Blanc and a White [...]
Nothing feels as satisfying and authentic as making your first batch of wine from fresh grapes. And there’s no better time to try it than in early autumn, when grapes all over the Northern hemisphere are ripe for harvest in vineyards and backyard gardens.
There are many kinds of grapes to choose from, depending on where [...]
It’s Time to Put Their Money Where Your Mouth Is – 2012 Austin Food & Wine Alliance Grant Applications The Austin Food & Wine Alliance will award three (3) grants (1 at $10,000 and 2 at $5,000) to selected organizations and/or individuals for the purpose of culinary innovation that contributes to the Austin and/or Central [...]
Wine Spectator: CapRock’s 2010 Bingham Family Vineyards Roussanne – A Very Good Value From the October 15, 2012 issue of Wine Spectator: Great American wines – 200 delicious reds and whites for $20 or less (by Kim Marcus) “There’s no doubt about it: Americans love American wine. Whether it’s due to patriotic impulse or to [...]
Texas Wine: Is There Really Anything Behind The HoustonPress “Cellar Door” Article Guest Blog: by David Furer – — – — – VintageTexas (Russ Kane): Back in May of this year, I (Russ Kane – VintageTexas) was asked by Austin-based wine writer, wine merchant and musician, Jeremy Parzen if I would have a conversation with [...]
Kiepersol Estates Vintner’s Dinner Featuring The Wineslinger Chronicles Join us at Kiepersol Estates in the East Texas piney woods near Tyler, Texas, for a five-course gourmet dinner with author Russ Kane from VintageTexas – a.k.a. Doc Russ, Texas Wineslinger – featuring readings from his newly published book: The Wineslinger Chronicles: Texas on the Vine Each [...]