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Try These White Wines From France

By Darryl Beeson

Yes France. France has received too much flack recently in America. It has become patriotic to mouth-off that you will not buy French products these days. Realize that any French products that are found on a shelf near you were paid for, probably multiple times over many months, by Americans within the distribution process. You are punishing the wrong people, including yourself, because the following wines are very tasty.

Vouvray "Chateau de Montfort" Loire 2001
Price       $8.99
Rating     89

Aromas of fresh, ripe apple, then flavors of luscious apple. "This is the wine for a glass, enjoyed with your feet up while on the deck." observes spokesperson John Laird. "The bit of residual sugar makes the wine very appealing. It's good and when do I get another glass?"

Match this wine with delicate seafood in cream or butter sauces. Garnish, or better yet, sautee some fresh, crisp apple sliced thinly and served along side the fish. This wine sings of fresh apple.

Macon Lugny "Les Charmes" Chardonnay, Burgundy 2001
Price       $8.99
Rating     88

There are aromas of tropical lime and nice earth followed by soft flavors of cooked apple, cashew and delicate pear. This is an affordable chardonnay from where the grape once began. Some say that this wine has a little more bite than a California Chardonnay. Definately there is less oak influence.

"What's the single biggest difference of how people in France name their wines versus how wines are named in the U.S.?" asks Laird. "The U.S. does it by the grape. France does it by the geography. Burgundy, Brordeaux and what we drink on New Year's, Champagne, are all regions." Macon is an overlooked section in the Southern portion of the renowned Burgundy reion.

Serve this crisp and appealing white with grilled chicken, veal sausages or herb-laced pizza. It also is perfect as an aperitif. "Wines that are on the table in France tend to be of a scale to support the meal that is on the table," observes Laird.

Sancerre "Clos la Perriere" Loire 2001
Price       $18
Rating     89

First there are aromas of fresh melon and crisp apple, then flavors of bracing and complex melon with a potent splash of lemon tartness. Approaching a century ago, when this wine was the affordable bulk option in Paris, this delicate but region driven white wine was a favorite of Earnest Hemmingway. Though more expensive these days, the possibility of the individual drinking the wine later writing the great American novel still remains the same.

Spokesperson Laird points out that "another thing to remember is that in France there are different 'terroir' influences (individual geography combined with many other factors), which bring into play the vineyard setting, the soil, and the thousands of years of the actual people growing vineyards, going back to the Romans."

Match this beautiful white with baked chicken in rosemary or a lusty onion tart.

Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc, Graves 2000
Price       $38
Rating     91

A sniff brings forth aromas of mineral and dried fig, then a sip offers lean flavors, mineral aspects and subtle complexities throughout the moderately long length. "Swirling and later sniffing, for many people is a way to buy time before having to make a comment," admits Laird. "Slapping the wine around in the glass does open up the wine." This crisp, beautiful white wine is one to ponder and enjoy in the glass. By Bordeaux standards, it is a relative value.

Pair this wine with sauteed veal in a lemon influenced sauce, seared chicken breast with fresh thyme, or firm fleshed seafood.

Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve, Alsace 2000
Price       $18
Rating     92

"This is Pinot Gris," proclaims Laird, "as in Pinot Grigio, which sometimes when it comes from Northern Italy tastes like water with a little alcohol,"

First there are aromas of delicate floral and deeper, dried fruits, then flavors of luscious dried fruits and tropical influences. Crisp and relatively dry, the wine is very fun and soft. Complex mineral sustains the long length of this important wine.

Pair this wine with lean pork roast incrusted with crisp, frsh herbs and rock salt. Another food option could be a lusty plate of sausages with grained mustard and some grilled cabbage.

Darryl Beeson travels the world looking for great wine values. In the past, he has been wine steward or cellar master for The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Voltaire, and The Adolphus Hotel. Not one for stuffiness or secret handshakes relative to wine, this Texan might now be described as a "ki-yi-yippee sommelier, sommelier." Beeson reports on wine, spirits, food and travel for numerous publications.

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