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French white wine values tasted in 2002

The selected vibrant bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. Featured values include ten Loire whites and four whites from the Côte d'Or.

The below wines were tasted in France, in 2002 (between April and December). The tasting notes are listed by increasing prices, with the following format:

Appellation – producer – plot or brand – variety

Approximate price — vintage — general impression – on nose – on palate – after swallowing

Alsace sylvaner — Stéphane Berg

— 1999 — ripeness may not be complete but the flavours are fruity - a nose with plants, fern, lemon and lime - a palate showing apricot and pink grapefruit, lively, a smoked note - plant has the last word

Bourgogne aligoté — Robert et Raymond Jacob — [aligoté]

— 2000 — nose dominated by apple, hint of pear - big until mid-palate, grapefruit, apple, minerally, does not show any of the Hautes-côtes-de-nuits (report below) onctuosity, and is not supposed to - short aftertaste, almond

Muscadet wine labelMuscadet — Domaine de la Pépière - Marc Ollivier — ’Domaine de la Pépière’

4 € — 2001 — delicious and stirring, complete - a modest nose, fruity with a plant hint, lychee, lively, minerally, smokiness - very fruity with a plant hint, light yet flavour-intense and lively, grapefruit, tiny beads of carbon dioxide, lively, dry and refreshing - smokiness, lime, short

Bourgogne hautes côtes de nuits — Robert et Raymond Jacob — [chardonnay]

— 2000 — oak discreet (contrary to the 2001 and the Ladoix) - not much nose, grapefruit - onctuous, big, dense, peach, nectarine, grapefruit, fresh, juicy, more refreshing than the Ladoix - grapefruit

Muscadet — Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière — Clos des Briords — Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

— 1999 — smoked and apple notes, hints of melon and flower - onctuous, the structure is solid yet reminds of a Chignin: intensity of flavour, tiny beads of carbon dioxide, grapefruit, smoked, minerally, the good acidity dries the taste buds - short persistance, should open up with years of cellar

Muscadet wine labelMuscadet — Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière — Eden

— 2000 — has gained breadth during the year, sublimed: ethereal with not much grapes flavour - apple, nut - stands up straight, velvety, intense with grapefruit, lemon and almond, minerally, does not show the plant note of the ’Domaine’ bottling, dries the palate - short

Muscadet — Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière — Clos des Cormerais — Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - Vin élevé en fûts de chêne

— 1999 — oak, brioche, pear, toffee - onctuous entry, pear, toffee, fresh, apple

Alsace pinot blanc — Rabold — Côte du Bollenberg — Auxerrois (pinot blanc)

— 2000 — not much nose, a hint of fruit - mirabelle, ample, aromatic, smoked ham - smoked, toffee, grapefruit, alcohol

Alsace muscat — Rabold

— 2000 — a nose of muscat fruit and grapefruit - aromatic, onctuous, fresh - grapefruit

Vouvray — François Pinon — (Sec-tendre) — [chenin]

— 2001 — a nose dominated by vanilla (from staying in oak barrels) - oak/vanilla, onctuous, apple, peach, white nectarine, fresh - a persistance of apple and lime

Vouvray wine labelVouvray — François Pinon — Sec — [chenin]

— 2000 — at first the nose shows plant, dryness, grape, then fruitiness with grapefruit - the palate is intense, onctuous, with eating grape and almond - grapefruit dominates the long aftertaste

Vouvray — François Pinon — Sec — [chenin]

— 1995 — on the two first days: a nose with pear, mineral, flower, peach, mollusc - onctuous on the palate, with pear, peach, mollusc, palate-wide, fresh, stewed apricot, apple, smoked - smoked, stewed apricot
- on the third and fourth days: a nose dominated by apple and shellfish - pear, peach, toffee, mid-palate dry as apple juice, fresh, pure

Vouvray wine labelVouvray — François Pinon — Tradition (Demi-Sec) — [chenin]

6 € — 2000 — less easy than the 2001, for the long haul - lime and apple - sweet from sugar, apple, more structure than the 2001, snappy and velvety, a pear texture with a minerally note - toffee, almond

Vouvray — François Pinon — Tradition (Demi-Sec) — [chenin]

— 2001 — easier than the 2000 - a nose with lime and sugar - onctuous, less palate-wide than many Vouvrays, fruity, pear, peach, white nectarine, pure, fresh, but less fresh than the 2000 and the 1993 - residual sugar

Vouvray — François Pinon — Tradition (Demi-Sec) — [chenin]

7 € — 1993 — (tasted over three days) extensive aeration is due to the first-day lot - the apple nose is discreet - onctuous, peach, apple, dry in the mid-palate, white nectarine, pepper, mandarin, fresher than the 2001, raspberry, mineral

Vouvray — François Pinon — [crémant, ’méthode traditionnelle’] - Sec — [chenin]

7 € — 1996 — yeast, toffee, biscuit, apple skin - weedy on entry, a fine fizz, apple, quite drying, toffee, fresh - grapefruit, green almond, toffee

Ladoix — Robert et Raymond Jacob — [chardonnay]

7 € — 2000 — a nose typical of the area - onctuous, powerful, tasty but with fruit less apparent than in the Bourgogne-hautes-côtes-de-nuits, oak notes prevail, with a smoked hint

Corton charlemagne [grand cru] — Robert et Raymond Jacob — [chardonnay]

18 € — 1999 — should be still aged, tasted after aeration in decanter, powerful - the nose is intense, with smokiness - the mouthfeel is silky, very powerful, a palate-wide impression, with grapefruit

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