Wine of the Spring

Last night I came home from work and all I wanted was a glass of my #1 favorite wine of--this spring. Yes, from the first instance I tasted this gem I find it irresistably gulpable and it makes me tingle with joy. It's also a spectacular value. As value seems to be on the mind of Sr. Asimov and Brooklynguy, I thought I'd chime in. I love to be a part of this group of peeps who seem to enjoy the same wines. (For those unfamiliar with the Vinous Blogosphere: the Loire, followed by the Beaujo is where all of the cool kids are drinking. CRB, Brun, and Puzelat are everywhere! Love it.)

Sadly, I don't have the Mecca, Chambers Street, to shop at (although I'd love a few cases of select Loire/Beaujo/Riesling/Burgs from them! And some Bugey Cerdon!), so I am left to my own devices and the booty I brought from Chicago.

And, yes, I reviewed--uh, drank--a white. BioD/Natural and everything. And f#$%ing yummy.



Domaine St. Nicolas "les Clous" Fiefs Vendeens 2005 (60% Chard/40% Chenin). $14, 12.5% abv. Vines grown a frisbee throw from the Atlantic, south of Nantes, makes it very Loire-ish. As this old map shows, they've been making wine in this VDQS (soon to be AOC, I'm sure) for a while. This wine is just yummy, it balances this savory Chard character (Like I get in Cadette's Bourgogne Vezalays) with that haunting broad Chenin-love thing. Mmm. Yummy--that's it. Complex, haunting, like hay, honey, stone, peach/apricot, and stuff. Dry, but not offensively so. It went bonkers with my homestyle bean curd/spicy string beans, which, by the way, is one of the only Chinese take-out meals I will eat.


F-ing love maps.

Anyway, this wine rocks it. And, to repeat Eric--France is the best source for wine values in the world. And I don't want to hear any arguments otherwise...unless you have some.