Wine Life - Houston

From the Macconais, heading south into Beaujolais where the Gamay grape rules. The typical wine style is simple, fruity and meant to be consumed young, very few will develop interesting characteristics with bottle age. The inexpensive Beaujolais Nouveau with its confected red fruit flavors is always released on the third Thursday in November and is out now in time for your holiday meal. Beaujolais Villages is the next step up in quality and is usually mid-priced. Grapes can be sourced from thirty-nine villages along a series of granitic/schist hills in the north and west of the region. The wine is usually a blend from several villages but can be from one named village. 2009 Henry Fessy Beaujolais Villages Appearance: Clear, pale purple Nose: Clean, medium(+) youthful aromas of fresh & candied strawberries and raspberries Palate: Dry, Medium(-) body, medium tannins, medium(+) acidity with red fruit (mainly raspberry) flavor, medium length. Quality: Go...

Moving south from the Cote Chalonnaise into Burgundy's largest vineyard area, the Maconnais, the climate changes with the Mediterranean influence. This can create riper grapes resulting in fruitier flavors and aromas. About 80% of the region's production is regional level Macon AOC wine with most of the white being labeled Macon-Villages. 2006 Macon Villages Appearance: Clear, pale lemon color with a watery rim. Nose: heavy oxidized aromas Quality: Poor, out of condition Pouilly Fuisse is the principal commune of the Maconnais. The vineyard locations on the bowl shaped slopes maximize sun exposure, this, combined with the limestone based soils produce a style of Chardonnay that should typically be fuller bodied with good fruit and minerality. 2009 Pouilly Fuisse Louis Jadot      Appearance: Clear, pale lemon color with a watery rim. Nose: Clean, medium intense youthful aromas of lemon and peach with some butter. Palate: M...

Continuing south into Burgundy's Saone-et-Loire region is the Cote Chalonnaise often said to be Burgundy's best place to find value for your money. As I begin thinking about this, I am immediately sorry that I did not get a Bouzeron Aligote to try because I don't think I have ever tasted one and that would have been fun. It has been added to the list and I will come back to it. Over 60% of the region's production is red wine typically produced in a fuller-bodied, firm style. Givry, one of the principal communes, is home to 26 Premier Cru vineyards. The red wines of this particular area are known for their intense fruit and smooth tannins but are sometimes questioned as to the length of their age ability. 2005 Givry- Les Bois Chevaux Premier Cru Domaine Thenard    $30 Appearance: Clear, pale garnet with a brickish rim. Nose: Clean, medium intensity developing aromas of leather, sage and earth over red fruit. Palate: Dry, medium body/alcohol and medium+ t...

Continuing down through Burgundy's Cote d'Or into the southern portion, the Cote de Beaune. This area shares many similarities with its northern neighbor as far as climate, altitude and aspect but it has more soil variation promoting the production of red (57%) and more white (43%) wines. The red wines tend to be lighter than those produced in the Cote De Nuits while the white wines deliver concentrated flavor and are considered to be among the best in the world. There are 7 Grand Cru vineyards in the Cote de Beaune and only one produces Grand Cru red but there are numerous Premier Cru vineyards producing both. Although there are 17 principal communes in the Cote de Beaune, I am only focusing on 3 in this posting. The commune of Volnay is home to 30 Premier Crus producing only red wines. Volnay reds are typically soft and aromatic. 2007 Volnay Vielles Vignes - Nicolas Potel   $45 Appearance: Clear, pale garnet with a brickish rim. Nos...

After a hectic weekend at Reliant Center judging wines for the HLS&R wine competition, taking a little time to relax and think about the Grand Cru wines of Burgundy seemed like a must for today. The northern part of the famous Cote d'Or is the Cote de Nuits which is home to all but one of Burgundy's red wine Grand Crus. The continental climate, the limestone rich clay soil, the average altitude of 1000 feet and the sun exposure of the east facing vineyards all come together to help create Burgundy's most long-lived red wines. Starting in the north, the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin is home to 9 Grand Cru vineyards and 26 Premier Cru vineyards which produce cellar-worthy wines known for their structure and balance. 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin Grand Cru  Charmes-Chambertin Louis Jadot      $100 Appearance: Clear, pale ruby. Nose: Clean, medium intensity, developing aromas of fresh strawberries and cherries, tobacco and a bit of a violet f...

The wines at the bottom of the AOC hierarchy of Burgundy (with just a few exceptions) have the word Bourgogne in their name. There are 25 of these AOCs and they represent over 50% of Burgundy's production. Grapes may be sourced from anywhere within the region or may be labeled with a specific region that the grapes are sourced from (ex. Macon-one of the few name exceptions). Most of these wines can be produced anywhere within the Burgundy region. Tasting Notes: 2008 Simon Bize & Fils Bourgogne Chardonnay $20 I tasted this wine twice within a relatively short time period so I am posting both notes because I thought it was interesting to see what was the same and what had changed. The bottles were purchased from different stores. 09/17/11 Appearance: Clear, medium lemon color w/ a watery rim. Nose: Clean, medium+ intensity developed aromas of green apple, asparagus and canned mushrooms. Palate: Dry, Medium+ body and acidity (MLF), medium alcohol with flavors of...

Saint-Bris is a lesser known communal AOC in the Grand Auxerrois region of Burgundy located southwest from Chablis. What makes it of particular interest is that it makes its white wines from Sauvignon Blanc rather than from the Chardonnay grape for which Burgundy is famous. 2009 Saint-Bris Sauvignon- Domaine Sainte Claire  Jean Marc Brocard    $18 Appearance: Clear, pale straw color with a watery rim. Nose: Clean, medium- intensity level of youthful aromas of primarily grapefruit with a bit of grass. Palate: Dry, medium body/alcohol and medium+ acidity with tart grapefruit flavors. Finish: Medium- length Quality: Acceptable I was expecting a more aromatic wine with more herbaceousness based on what I have read about this region's typicity. Further research may be in order.

The advent of Fall has sent me back into my wine studies and what better place to begin than Burgundy, or more specifically, Chablis, Burgundy's most northerly region. The name Chablis has been widely abused and many do not seem to know that it is a quality Chardonnay wine from a premier French wine region. I recently sat down at the bar of a high-end seafood restaurant in town and when the bartender asked for my order, I asked him if he had any Chablis. His response was to lean in and whisper to me that I must mean Chardonnay as Chablis was cheap California white wine that they did not serve. I could tell that he was actually embarrassed for me and my faux pas. (Deep sigh.) Chablis has a cool continental climate with Atlantic maritime influences which bring a cloud cover that lowers temperatures and slows the ripening process. This is one of the factors that leads to the high acidity for which the wines of Chablis are known. Another important factor is the soil. T...