If you are looking for fine French wine and food, you
should consider the Loire Valley region of central France.
You may find a bargain, and I hope that you'll have fun on
this fact-filled wine education tour in which we review a
red Sancerre wine based on the Pinot Noir grape coming from
the eastern part of the Loire Valley.
The Loire is France's longest river. Of the eleven French
wine-growing regions the Loire Valley ranks third in total
vineyard acreage. It is subdivided into four regions going
from west to east: Nantais, Anjou-Saumur, Touraine, and
Central Vineyards, the home of the wine reviewed below.
This region's major white grape is Sauvignon Blanc and
major red grape is Pinot Noir.
Sancerre is a medieval hilltop town home to fewer than two
thousand residents. The town's name is synonymous with a
white wine. The town may have hosted a temple dedicated to
Julius Caesar. Sancerre is proud to have pushed back the
British twice during the Hundred Years' War and to have
been a regional command center for the French Resistance in
World War II. Sights to see include the Sixteenth Century
bell tower Belfry of St. Jean, the Tour des Fiefs, the
remains of a feudal chateau built at the end of the
Fourteenth Century, and the wine exposition house dating
from the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. You'll enjoy
the medieval streets and fine food and wine.
Before we review the Loire 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 Salade de Perdreau Roti
(Roasted Partridge Salad). For your second course savor Pot
au Feu de Canette (Duckling Stew). And as dessert indulge
yourself with Crepe au Grand Marnier (Grand Marnier Crepe).
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review
are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Fournier Sancerre Rouge 2003 12.5% alcohol
about $24
Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. Red
Sancerre is made exclusively from Pinot Noir. These wines
are rarely seen in our market because a large portion of
them are enjoyed locally. In the Loire, red wines require a
warm, consistent growing season to obtain ripeness. In
2003, with the European-wide heatwave, Fournier was able to
achieve just that. The wine exhibits classic Pinot aromas
and flavors of cheery, underbrush and beetroot. The
producer recommends serving this wine, lightly chilled,
with bouillabaisse. And now for my review.
My first meal consisted of beef stew and potatoes with a
Tunisian hot pepper sauce and Moroccan spiced carrots. The
wine was earthy and somewhat powerful tasting of black
cherries and tobacco. This Pinot Noir had no trouble
dealing with the meat's spicy sauce.
The second meal was an Atlantic salmon marinated in a
commercial Italian-style grill sauce. The fish was
accompanied by potatoes roasted in chicken fat. The wine
was round and earthy, and relatively long. There was some
aftertaste.
The final pairing involved a purchased barbecued chicken
breast, once again potatoes roasted in chicken fat, and
caponata, Italian style eggplant with tomatoes, garlic, and
olives. Quite surprisingly the wine was plummy. The
combination was excellent, bringing out the fruit in the
wine.
Something happened and I did not get to taste this wine
with cheese. As you may be aware, I am not usually all that
happy with wine and cheese pairings. Anyway, my apologies
and at least for the time being I plan to go back to wine
and cheese tastings.
Final verdict. I think that the wine was overpriced. To my
way of thinking a wine priced in the mid-twenties it should
have been excellent more than once out of three tastings. I
definitely won't buy it again just to try the wine and
cheese pairings. And it is simply impossible to get
authentic Bouillabaisse this far from Marseille.
----------------------------------------------------
Levi Reiss is the author or co-author of ten computer and
Internet books, but really would rather just drink fine
German or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He
teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language
community college. Check out his global wine website is
http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column
reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory)
and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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