We haven’ t really reviewed much (any?) French wine on here.  While my cronies might have different reasons for that, I’ll go ahead and admit that, for me, it’s largely because I don’t know anything about French wine and thus have no idea where to start.  So we’ll start here, with a vintner that we know and love, and a country we don’t really get. 

I think one of the reasons I am hesitant with French wine is because I want to know what kind of grapes you’re giving me.  I’m less concerned with the place where they were grown, and I don’t really get this fascination with terroir and the perfect plot of land where the grapes grow just right.  Or at least, I didn’t get that stuff until I tried this wine.  There’s something very locational about it.  As I drink, my mind imagines the vineyard in Bordeaux where this wine was birthed.  Overall it has a slightly earthy taste.  There are your standard bright, fruity notes balanced out with a chocolate end, but there’s also this flavor that puts you in the middle of grape vines in France on a sunny day. 

Ok, ok, it all sounds a little hokey, I admit.  But at the end of the day I really enjoy this wine.  It’s got the body of a $12 bottle of wine (which it is) but it has the presence of something more.  So if you’re like me, and you’re scared of all the funny labels that look the same and have a huge house or some rows of grape vines on them, start here. 

Score:  87