Wine making countries are not in their abundance considering the number of wine drinkers, but they do a splendid job keeping enough wine bottles on our shelves. The most common include Italy, Spain and France which are all European countries. Among these France holds the best reputation as far as the fermenting of exquisite wines is concerned. The French vineyards are expertly attended to and the wine that is got from them is nothing short of outstanding.

French Red wine, according to wine experts, is the best in red meat dishes. Red meat could be anything from beef, veal, and even duck. It’s said that these courses are never the same without some good mature well aged French wine to wash them down with. The best kind of French Red Wine is that which has been allowed to settle so that the sedimentation is not dispersed in the whole bottle. You can locate French Red Wine easy in most wine shops at average prices of $10-$25. But for older bottles, you have to pay considerably more especially when said bottle has been gracefully aging for more than 100 years.

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Table wine has the lowest rank. It is the cheapest and the simplest. Local wine is ranked slightly higher. It is produced in certain regions of France.

The next stage is higher-quality wine produced in a limited territory. Its production techniques is under the strict control. Manufacturers are required to use only certain varieties of grapes growing on the particular wine industry castle’s soil.

Finally, the highest ranked wine category – aristocratic “controlled by descent” wine. This wine is bought by collectors and sold at auctions for the crazy money. Requirements for its manufacturing are much more rigid. For example, even if the grape harvest has been abundant, there is a strict limit of producing elite wines. Prestigious wine must me limited!

How to choose elite wine?

First of all, pay attention to the label. It should not be garish or colorful. Typically, the better the wine, the label looks more modest. And if you choose the higher-class wine, it must have three words in its inscription. First – Appellation (winemaking community), or Chateau (Castle). Then the name of the community or castle. And the key word “control” means that the wine is controlled by descent.

Very often these three words are typed in very small font. But they are the key! If they are not on the label, the wine could not be considered elite. The best French wines have also “Grand Cru” classification. Most often this inscription can be found on the label after the name of vineyard.

What should you pay attention to when choosing wines from different regions of France?

The most famous are Bordeaux and Burgundy wines.

Individual wine-making households – Chateau – are located Inside the Bordeaux wine-growing areas. Therefore, when choosing Bordeaux wine you must draw your attention to the name of the castle.

Each Chateau has its unique flavor, identity and bouquet. Even if a few castles are located in the neighborhood and use the same sort of wine grapes, they produces quite different wines. Indeed, each Chateau has its own secrets, which are handed down for several centuries. Unlike Bordeaux, Burgundy is famous by wine-growing communities, which may belong to several tens of producers.
Pay attention to the producer of the wine – its taste and smell depends on its producer.

How do size and length of the bottle corks characterize the quality of wine?

The real connoisseurs of French wine knows what the cork means. Firstly, it must be made from cork oak bark. Secondly, the name of the community or castle as well as the harvest year must be printed there. The longer the cork, the more expensive drink, and the higher its quality. But short pressed cork is a sign of cheap wine.

As is the convention, the long-lived wine corks is changed every 15 years.

As for the bottle, the most famous elite wine bottle is called “Magnum” (1.5L). The fact is that “Magnum” is used for very high quality wine of the best years.

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Majority of the wine gift baskets come with a small informational booklet on the wine or wines that it consists of. This booklet provides a host of information about the particular wine, its history, where it is made, and what kind of food it should accompany. This information proves to be quite useful and ideal when gifting as it helps the person receiving the wine basket to get better acquainted with the wine, he is being gifted.

Wine baskets are more often than not expensive, as wines themselves are quite steep when it comes to pricing. The price of the wine basket depends on what wine is included in it and what other items are added to the wine basket. If it is a luxury wine, then the basket will most certainly be quite expensive. However, if the wine in question is a type of table wine or medium quality wine, then the price, although still expensive, will be lower priced than the luxury wine basket.

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Among the eleven wine-growing regions of France Languedoc-Roussillon ranks number four in total vineyard acreage. This area, which includes the Midi was traditionally known for generating immense amounts of rather dubious table wine called vin ordinaire. Recently, in part because of Australian winemakers, the region has started to produce a lot of fine wine. A few weeks ago a salesman offering free samples greeted me at my nearby wine store. While I hadnt planned to review yet another Languedoc-Roussillon wine so soon after the two others, I was particularly intrigued by this wines classification and its grape variety.

The wine bottle proudly displayed a sticker proclaiming its Gold ranking in a national contest for Vin de Pays (Country Wines) in 2006. You may recall from the initial article in this series (I Love French Wine and Food Launching a Series) that Vin de Pays is a relatively recent French classification for wines of promise that for one reason or another dont meet the stricter requirements of the presumably better classifications. Even though almost one third of French wine is classified as Vin de Pays we dont get too many of them here. I smelled a potential bargain.

The grape variety was Pinot Noir. I know of a relatively recent exhaustive list of Languedoc-Roussillon grape varieties comprising over thirty entries, some famous, others obscure. Pinot Noir was absent, surely not by oversight. Pinot Noir tends to be a cool-weather grape found in places such as Champagne and Burgundy in France, and Oregon in the United States. In our various article series we reviewed Pinot Noirs from non-traditional areas including Germany, Italy, and France (Alsace). Well see below how a Languedoc-Roussillon Pinot Noir stacks up.

Narbonne is a city of about fifty thousand that had been a major city in old Roman times. Sadly little of its Roman past remains. Youll have to be satisfied with modern sites such as the Fourteenth Century Cathdrale St-Just-et-St-Pasteur (St-Justs and St-Pasteurs Cathedral), the tallest cathedral in all of southern France. Nearby is the Palais des Archevques (Archbishops Palace) that houses art and archeology museums. If youre feeling ambitious climb the almost two hundred steps in the dungeon for a prisoners eye view of the surroundings. The sculpture museum in the former church Notre Dame de la Mourgui displays Roman and Gallic treasures of all sorts. The twenty two kilometer (fifteen mile) Robine Canal, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, flows into the much longer Canal du Midi (Midi Canal), similarly classified. Charles Trenet, a famous French singer and songwriter was born in Narbonne. Leon Blum, a three time French Prime Minister was born in Paris but elected to Parliament from Narbonne.

Before reviewing the Languedoc-Roussillon wine and imported cheeses that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.
Start with Gambas (Prawns).
For your second course savor Loup en Papillote (Sea Bass cooked in Foil).
And as dessert indulge yourself with Pches la Minervoise (White Peaches with Muscat Wine and Raisins).

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Partiarche Pinot Noir Vin de Pays 2004 12% about $9

Lets start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale ruby color; light cherry and spice aromas, sweet fresh cherry flavour, soft finish. Serving suggestion: Serve with cold roast beef.

My first meal consisted of cold beef spare ribs with cracked peppercorns, potato salad, and cucumber and onion salad. My first reaction was this is a real Pinot Noir at a great price. Its light acid did a great job of cutting the congealed fat. It was shorter and less complex than other Pinot Noirs that cost a lot, lot more.

The next meal was cold barbequed chicken with cucumber and onion salad, and potato salad. There was a lot of extract and quite a good length. I tasted tobacco and dark fruits.

The final meal involved grilled hamburgers with spicy Thai sauce, a cole slaw advertised as a health cole slaw whatever that means, and once again potato salad. In this case spicy meant really spicy. The sauce was too assertive; I had to remove most of it. While I like spices I want the wine to be there. Once that problem was solved the wine was fine. I tasted black cherries rather than the sweet cherries that I had been promised. I was not disappointed. I also tasted the underbrush and that didnt disappoint me either.

My first cheese pairing was with a local Asiago cheese that I prefer to the native Italian versions that I have tried. Perhaps in Italy The Pinot Noir was powerful with dark fruit. Then I went to a goats milk cheese, a Palet de Chevre from the Poitou Charentes region of central-western France. I might have guessed that the cheese was a Camembert rather than a goats milk cheese. Be that as it may, the wine became too acidic and lost its flavor. Then I paired the Pinot Noir with a nutty tasting Swiss Gruyere. At first the same phenomenon occurred, but later became less pronounced. I thought that perhaps the wine was starting to decline, but I finished the bottle on its own and the fruit came back in force.

Final verdict. We have a winner. We have a bargain. The two are related. At twice the price I wouldnt bother. But at the present price Ill be coming back. And Ill be looking for another Vin de Pays to try soon.

Author: Levi Reiss
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Today’s wine is kosher. The producer’s website (go for Fortant rather than Skalli and then click Wines and Kosher) includes detailed list of the measures needed for a wine to be kosher. The company produces other wine in Corsica, the Rhone Valley of France, and California’s Napa Valley but most if not all of these wines are neither kosher nor $10 wines.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Skalli Fortant Merlot (V) 2007 France 13.5% alcohol about $10

Let’s start with the marketing materials. Description: Look for blueberry preserves, sour cherry, raspberry, and tobacco aromas and flavors. Dry, savory, ripe, and round. Mature and ready to drink with grilled hamburgers. And now for my review.

With the first sips the wine was thick and tasted of tar, tobacco, and plums. The initial meal consisted of slow-cooked beef stew. The wine maintained its qualities and added chocolate. When I enhanced the stew with green jalapeno sauce the wine became more powerful.

The second meal included roast chicken with potatoes, onions, and carrots. The wine’s fruit, acidity, and tannins were well balanced. I found black cherries, some oak, and even tobacco, and there was a touch of sweetness. This Merlot had lots of taste but was not thick.

The final meal centered around a boxed Eggplant Parmigiana slathered with grated Parmesan Cheese. The Merlot was smoky and nicely balanced. It was moderately persistent and palate cleansing.

Before the cheese pairings I tasted this drink with Matjes herring. The wine retained its power, but the two didn’t mesh. Most wine doesn’t mesh with herring. Next came the Gouda cheese. The Merlot was partially gutted, but I did get the taste of cherry juice. Not black cherry juice, just cherry juice. Then I tasted a Swiss cheese; it’s a different Swiss than in the past and does not carry the term Emmenthaler but only Swiss. The wine was persistent but seemed short-changed.

Final verdict. This wine is worth buying again, even more so if you want a kosher wine that, for the reasons detailed on the Fortant web site, is more expensive to produce. And it even comes from France. Unfortunately none of this producer’s more upscale products are available in my region.

Author: Levi Reiss
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