FRENCH TEST

Which French region did the wine come from?

For the first tasting evening of our third year as a wine tasting group, Steve decided to examine us on our blind wine tasting abilities.  He told us that there were nine main French wine regions, which were:

Alsace (and Lorraine),

Champagne,

Burgundy (of which Beaujolais is a major sub-region)

Loire Valley,

Rhone Valley,

Bordeaux,

South West (a hotch-potch including everything such as Bergerac and Gascony and the Pyrenean appellations)

Languedoc,

Provence.

He might also have added Jura, Savoie and Corsica making twelve in total.

He was going to serve us six wines from these regions and we had to guess which wine came from which region.  We would get bonus points for the precise appellation area, year etc.  If this sounds easy, it wasn’t!!!   Following our success the last time Steve had tested us, he had decided to make it more difficult. 

Down to the serious business of tasting

So what did Steve serve us, which were our favourites, and how well did we do?   The wines are listed below in our order of preference.  Scores are out of twenty and are presented in the order John E, Ian, Kathryn, Clive, Sarah, Jane, Steve S, Chris and Andy who were our nine pupils to be tested for the evening.  As stated earlier we tasted all wines blind.

We can smile!

1. Domaine Masse Pere et Fils, Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Reserve Speciale Vieilles Vignes, 2011, French Burgundy Red 12.5%, Auchan €8.39.

Seven of us nine tasters reckoned this was the best wine of the evening.  It was light in colour and also light and fruity in taste.  Its smoothness also won a few over.  A very good value burgundy Pinot Noir that is definitely worth buying at this price if you over the other side of the Channel.   Scores were 13.5, 12.5, 13.5, 15, 14, 15, 10.5, 12.5 and 11.5.  Not bad scores for a wine at less than ten Euro.

2. Chateau Lacaussade Saint Martin, Trois Moulins 2011, Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux, Semillon Sauvignon, French Bordeaux White 13%, Auchan €5.39.

This wine had one top vote and seven of us had it in their top three.  This was a very dry wine that tasted like a bog standard Bordeaux or Bergerac white early on but as the evening went on developed interesting tropical fruit flavours.  These later flavours completely threw most of us and we changed our minds and thought it was a Chardonnay but were wrong.  Scores were 11.5, 12, 12, 15, 13, 10, 11, 10.5 and10.5.   Our big Sauvignon Blanc fan and official photographer Clive loved this wine.  A great value white.

3. Chateau Saint-Go, Saint Mont 2010,  Tannat, Pinenc, Cabernets, French South West Red, Auchan €6.90.

This very dark wine had one top vote and most had it in their top four.  It had good acidity, which meant it went well with the food but it was not fruity enough for some of us.  The fruit it had was dark berries.   I thought this was a Cahors Malbec but should have got this as we used to buy quite a lot of this from Auchan.  Scores were 13, 10, 13, 13, 12, 13, 15.5, 8.5 and 8.5.  Another good value red if not universally loved.

4. Bastion de l’Oratoire, Fleurie 2009, French Burgundy (Beaujolais Gamay) Red 13%, Majestic £9.60

Three of our tasters had this in their top three but the rest had it in their bottom two. This wine came in the bottom half of our evening’s wines because it had very little concentration of flavour.  The flavour it did have was good and included dark forest fruits, chocolate and dates figs or prunes.  It seemed a little coarse on the palate. We were torn whether this wine was a Syrah or Gamay.  Scores were 9.5, 12.5, 9, 10, 5, 15, 15, 7.5, and8.5.  As you can see from the scores this was a wine that divided the team.

5. Domaine Drusse, Cuvée les Coteaux 2011, Saint Nicolas de Bourgeuil, French Loire white, Auchan €5.95.

Again three had this in their top three but the others were less sure.  Again the problem was depth of flavour and it was watery thin to some of our team.   Those who did like it, did so because it was light, fresh and smooth with some spice and parma violets in the bouquet.  Scores were 11.5, 7, 10, 13, 11.5, 14, 7, 10 and 9.5.  Another wine that divided the team but good value for lovers of light red wines.

6. Domaine les Quatre Amours, Cuvee Olga 2011, Roussanne Chardonnay, Vine De Pays d’Oc, French Languedoc White 14%, Direct from the producer at €10.

This wine was dry and had nice acidity but its coarse mouth-feel and oily taste put many off.    Some identified some nice tropical fruits once it had been open for a while but others though it tasted “like someone had pissed on a camp fire!”   Scores were 9.5, 10.5, 11, 12, 7.5, 4, 8.5, 7.5 and 10.5.  For some reason this interesting wine didn’t really perform on the night.  Rather like people wines don’t always perform as predicted and temperature, food, atmosphere, method of pouring etc and even the glass can make a big difference to the experience. 

In terms of how well we did in the test, I think it is true so say that most us failed miserably and need to continue coming to Tongham Tasters for a few more years in order to expand our wine knowledge and tasting abilities!   Steve’s prize for our top taster of the evening went to Ian.  Well done to Ian, who won a nice bottle of wine.  

Steve served us some Interesting wines considering all six came in at under £40!   Steve also served us some lovely bread sticks, Saucisson, Salami, Chorizo, olives, carrot and celery sticks, mature cheddar, Osau Iraty, Comte and Manchego, all from Waitrose so high quality stuff!   Well done Steve who as usual made us all have a very good and enjoyable evening.

Steve happy after his evening

Next month there will be no need to guess the grape variety or region it came from, as all will be exactly the same.  I will be serving six red Cabernet Franc wines from Chinon in the Loire Valley.  We will taste at least six different years from at least three different top producers. Included in this will be a true vertical tasting of the same producer’s top cuvee from three different years.  To join us on Friday November 9^th in Tongham for our Chinon Vertical Take-Off evening, call John on 07717 876743 or email me at tonghamtaster@gmail.com.  This November evening will feature higher cost wines than normal as the budget is expanded from our normal £60 to £90 for the six wines.  We will add a wine and some more to the budget if we get a particularly large attendance.   Come and find out why some wine connoisseurs think that Cabernet Franc is the best of the main three Bordeaux grape varietals when not blended.  Rather like our recent Chablis evening, one not to be missed!

During our third year we are going to have most of tastings as themed nights.  Coming up soon are our Christmas party at Ian & Kathryn’s place in Farnborough on Friday December 14^th, and Sauvignon Blancs from around the World at Clive and Sarah’s in Tongham on Friday January 11^th.  Later in 2013 we are planning evenings focussing on sparkling wines, Rhone blends, wines of the Languedoc, Australian wines and wines that pair well with pizza.  Remember we always welcome new members so consider joining us at one of next tastings.

If you want to take a French Test, answer the following questions.  Answers will be in a blogpost next week.

1.  Which French wine region has traditionally always included the grape varietal on the label?

2.  Pouilly-Fumé and Pouilly-Fuissé come from different wine regions.  Which ones?

3.  Which French wine Region contains the first Appellation Controllée and which was it?

4.  In which French wine region do they grow Pinot Meunier as one of their three main grape varietals?

5.  Which French wine region grows Merlot on its right bank in clay soils and Cabernet Sauvignon on its left bank in gravelly soils and then blends them with other varietals?

6.  Which is the largest of the French wine regions in terms both of size and bottles of wine produced?

7.  Which French wine region uses unusual grape varietals such as Fer, Gros and Petit Manseng and Colombard in its wines?

8.  Which French wine region makes the unusual sherry like Vin Jaune wines?

Not Aliens but blind tasting bottles!

and at last some of Clive's photos of the evening -

Don't make me laugh when I'm tasting!

Ian with his prize

The ancient sport of wine wrestling!

Tongham Taster makes his notes