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French white wine values tasted in 2003

The selected vibrant bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. Featured values include four bottlings from Burgundy and five Muscadets.

The below wines were tasted in France, in 2003 (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

Bourgogne aligoté — Robert et Raymond Jacob

4 € — 2001 — nose dominated by grapefruit zest - grapefruit, fresh, short

Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie wine labelMuscadet de sèvre et maine sur lie — Domaine de la Pépière - Marc Ollivier — Clos des Briords — Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

— 2001 — aroma of northern fruit - round on entry, with beads or carbon dioxide, fresh but less snappy than Brégeon 2001 (to be also compared to the 1999 vintage tasted in 2002)

Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie wine labelMuscadet de sèvre et maine sur lie — A.Michel Brégeon

— 2001 — more vigorous than Clos des Briords 2001 - lichee and iodine - a palate intense, beaded, lively

Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie wine labelMuscadet de sèvre et maine sur lie — Marc Ollivier - Domaine de la Pépière — Eden

5 € — 2000 — a weak nose - on the palate: hazelnut, no taste from grape! velvety, full and easy, fresh but lacking in sharpness (for a Muscadet), stands up straight but has declined (compared to the same vintage tasted one year earlier)

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

5 € — 2001 — manipulated - oak dominates the palate, not much stuff, wide and fresh, fruit not ripe

Muscadet-de-sèvre-et-maine-sur-lie wine labelMuscadet de sèvre et maine sur lie — A.Michel Brégeon

— 1996 — more complex than 2000, 2001, or 2002 - shell, lichee, apple, green grapefruit - even more intense than 2000, 2001 and 2002, seashell, lichee, apple, green grapefruit, fresh - long, lime, seashell

Touraine wine labelTouraine — Clos Roche Blanche — Sauvignon - n°2

— 2001 — a great purity - a varietal nose with exotic fruit (starfruit), a minerally note, and a hint of oxidation - the variety also shows in the mouth, grapefruit, zest, pear, apple, plant, almond, very intense, a minerally note, fresh with a straight hint - persistent, sandwich bread

Côtes-de-provence wine labelCôtes de provence — Château de Pourcieux — M. d’Espagnet — [rolle]

— 2001 — fat, a green note is not a problem, it shows the incomplete ripeness of the grapes, fresh, short

Muscadet de sèvre et maine sur lie — A.Michel Brégeon — Liger d’Or

— 1997 — a forceful nose, with grapefruit and apple - onctuous, with enormous intensity, the palate reminds of a ten-year-old Chablis, tropical fruit (with a hint of residual sugar), grapefruit, minerally, apple - tropical fruit lingers

Sauvignon de saint bris — William Fèvre

7 € — 2001 — a nose minerally, with peach, watermelon, red fruit, fresh-cut hedge - fruit explodes in the palate, intense, harmonious, minerally, peach, watermelon, grapefruit, lime, dense but short, fresh

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

9 € — 1993 — the nose minerally with citrus zet - the palate: with apple, onctuous (moelleux), wide, dry (from acidity), mandarin orange - citrus zet (steady but more mineral and less fruity than the same vintage tasted one year earlier)

Chablis — Vignoble Dampt — Vieilles Vignes — [chardonnay]

9 € — 2001 — very agreeable - intense, pear, apple, flower, honeysuckle, mildew - onctuous, fatter than other Chablis, grapefruit, apricot, apple, mildew, balanced with a moderate acidity (for a Chablis), a smoky note - toffee (you can compare it to a Ladoix tasted at the same age)

Chinon — Bernard Baudry — Croix Boissée [tuffeau blanc] — [chenin]

14 € — 2001 — grapefruit, herb tea, flower - grapefruit, herb tea, flower, palate-wide but fresh (more so than a Vouvray)

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