The theme for this month’s French Winophiles is  L’amour– French wines with a name or concept reminiscent of love.

When I received these sample wines (as always, opinion are my own), I immediately saw the connection between L’Amour (love) and the Saint-Amour from Beaujolais, and the Rosé from D’Anjou in the Loire Valley.

The connection between love and the other two wines was less obvious unless, perhaps, you know far more about French language and culture than I possess.

But the L’Amour theme did strike a chord because the L’Amour du vin (love of wine) has played such an integral part of the best part of my life.   My wife.

You see, in many ways, it was wine that brought us together.

And I thought about that, it brought to mind a couple of analogs for our love of wine and each other.

The first analog for wine and our love, is that we found wine and true love later in life than most.

Because we found each other later in life than most, I sometimes wish we had met earlier in life.  I can’t speak for her, but I can tell you I wouldn’t have been ready for her when I was younger.  And therein lies the second analog between our love and wine.

This one is to French wine in particular.  For you see, when we were dating and going wine tasting most weekends (that hasn’t changed much these last 10 years;-), like most we started our wine journey with shall we say “fruitier” wines.  But we were curious and wanted to try French wines because the French were reputed to make the world’s best wines.

And try them we did. But we started with some pretty inexpensive (mostly) Bordeaux.  In hindsight, probably not the best introduction to French wines.

We didn’t care for them.

My wife went as far as to refer to them as “sewer” wines because of their..um earthy and occasionally funky aromas and character.

In other words, we weren’t ready for French wines at the beginning. That’s because the ones we tried were less fruity than easy to like California wines (the first ready wine my wife ever loved was a 17% alcohol Zinfandel!) we were out tasting virtually every weekend.

Over time our palates evolved and now we very much enjoy French wine!

Do you remember a movie entitle “Love and Basketball”?  If we had a movie, it would be love story entitled “Love and Wine”!

Here’s to love and wine…may your life be blessed with both!

Now for wine!

And food!

And food and wine together!

Over the course of a week or so, we paired these wines with a variety of home cooked and take-out fare.

Below you’ll find my Instagram posts with details about the wine and the pairings:

Savoie (“Sav-wah”) is a wine region in the far east of France, in the mountainous areas just south of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) and the border with Switzerland. The region’s location and geography have very much defined its character, which is fragmented, hilly and slightly Swiss. This is evident in the fresh, crisp white wines made here, as well as in the region’s wine labels; many bear a white cross on a red background – the flag of both Switzerland and Savoie. (1)

This wine is 100% Jacquere.  It is the region’s widely planted grape, accounting for 50% of all plantings.  The grape produces wines often characterized as “mountain fresh” because of its high acidity.  Flavors range from floral (white flowers) and fruity (pear, white peach, grapefruit) to mineral and flinty. (2)

Loving this #savoie with raw oysters on the half shell! The wine has a green apple, lime character with an appealing minerality a great match for the salinity of the oysters. Plus that lime is like a squeeze of lime on the oysters! It is 100% Jacquère, a variety of white grape found primarily in the Savoy wine region of France. It is a high-yielding vine variety which is used to produce lightly scented, refreshing and gently aromatic dry white wine, such as Vin de Savoie. Jacquère is the grape used in Apremont wines and is the usual wine paired with cheese fondue . . #wine #winelover #savoie ##winophiles #winestagram #instawine #apremont #savoy #oysters #rawoysters #kumamotooysters #frenchwine #winesoffrance #sample

A post shared by martindredmond (@martindredmond) on Feb 4, 2018 at 3:42pm PST

Rose d’Anjou is an appellation for rosé wines from the Anjou district of France’s western Loire Valley wine region.  Generally associated with over-sweet roses  (though I certainly didn’t consider the Famille Bourgrier same to be overly sweet) made predominantly from Grolleau Noir (1)

Hmmm. What to pair with Pasta Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino(Pasta with Garlic, Oil and Peppers) classic late-night Italian fare we learned about when we traveled to Italy. While there, we purchased a pepperoncini blend. We use it frequently for quick and flavorful weeknight meals. For pairing, one could go with a crisp white or perhaps a rustic red. I split the difference and went with a delightful Famille Bougrier Rose d’ Anjou from the Loire Valley. Initially the packaging grabbed my attention because it is in a square bottle (reduced carbon footprint, better use of shelf space and of course, to grab one’s attention). But this 50/50 blend of Gamay and Grolleau caught my attention even more. It’s has a fruity wild strawberry, red currant, pomelo, Meyer lemon character with mouthwatering acidity and a hint of minerality! 12% abv. And it was a very good pairing with our pasta! . . . #wine #winelover #winegeek #winophiles #famillebougrier #rosedanjou #loirevalley #loirevalleywine #gamayrouge #grolleau #pureloire #loirewine #winesofloire #enofylzwineblog #wineblogger #winewriter #winesofinstagram #instawine #wineonclock #sample #pinksociety #roseallday #rosealldamnday #sommstable

A post shared by martindredmond (@martindredmond) on Feb 12, 2018 at 12:20pm PST

Saint-Amour is the most northerly of the ten cru Beaujolais areas, located just to the south of the Maconnais appellations of Pouilly-Fuisse and Saint-Veran. Saint-Amour wines are among the lightest of the Beaujolais crus, often displaying spiced berry and stone-fruit characters with a marked minerality. (1)

Love is on the air! And this Saint-Amour Cru Beaujolais was delightful cross-cultural pairing with Paella! Designated as a Cru in 1946, Saint-Amour is known today as the most romantic Beaujolais of all. In fact, 20 to 25 percent of Saint-Amour sales occur in February! This is a soft, juicy, fresh, fruity and floral wine with an alluring raspberry, strawberry, black currant, and spice of character with a nice hint of earthiness. . . . #wine #winelover #winegeek #winophiles #vigneronsdebelair #saintamour #crubeajolais #lamour #gamayrouge #gamay #beaujolais #GoGamayGo #enofylzwineblog #wineblogger #winewriter #winesofinstagram #instawine #wineonclock #sample #valentinesday

A post shared by martindredmond (@martindredmond) on Feb 11, 2018 at 4:50pm PST

Côte Rôtie is a prestigious red-wine appellation at the northern tip of France’s Rhône Valley wine region. The Syrah vines on its steep, south-east-facing slopes produce wines which are both powerful and elegant. Improvements in quality have led to increases in demand for the wines – a cycle which turned so consistently that Côte Rôtie wines are now some of France’s most sought-after and most expensive.

Situated immediately south of Vienne, the Côte Rôtie is the Rhone Valley’s northernmost appellation, and one of its smallest. The parishes of Ampuis, Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhone and Tupin-et-Semons are the only three that may produce Côte Rôtie wines, and even within the parishes, only certain plots qualify for the appellation.

This wine’s connection to love, according to our host Lynn Gowdy, is that “Apparently “Brune et Blonde” just means/refers to “all women”. Also, there is a female aspect to the vineyards. Two hillsides / vineyards above Ampuis are particularly famous: the Côte Blonde, facing south-east, with sand, slate and limestone soils produces more tender wines than those of the Côte Brune, facing south and south-west with souls of clay and iron oxide which often results in serious, more severe wines. Apparently these are sometimes referred to as women of different temperaments: one tender, the other severe.

After a long day and work and traffic, I found comfort in a terrific glass of 2013 J. Vidal-Fleury Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde paired with take-out lamb kebabs. The winery, situated in the Northern Rhone Valley was established in 1871 and is the oldest continuously operating winery in the Rhone Valley. The wine is blend of co-fermented 95% Syrah and 5% Viognier with a very appealing, savory, black cherry, black currant, dried savory herb, black pepper, spice and black olive character. It paired well with the lamb kebabs! . . . #wine #winelover #winegeek #winophiles #jvidalfleury #syrah #keepsyrahweird #viognier #enofylzwineblog #wineblogger #winewriter #winesofinstagram #instawine #wineonclock #sample #sommstable

A post shared by martindredmond (@martindredmond) on Feb 7, 2018 at 5:26pm PST

Take Aways

As a self-described “promiscuous” wine-lover, trying wines I’ve haven’t tried before really appeals to me.  And that was the case with 3 of the 4 wines – the Savoie, the Rose d’Anjou and the Côte-Rôtie (my favorite of the four wines). Beaujolais is a long-standing favorite of mine.

All the wines were delightful and showcased the remarkable diversity  of French wine.  And there is no denying their affinity for food.  Or that French wine has that “je ne sais quoi“! 

A votre sante!

Be sure to check out what my fellow French Winophiles have to say about L’Amour!

• Camillia at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “L’Amour dans une Bouteille ou Quatre”
• Susannah Gold from Avvinare tells us about “Love in the Rhone Valley”
• L.M. Archer at binNotes shares “The Hedonistic Taster | № 36 | #Winophiles + Love: L’Amour du Patrimoine” 
• Jeff at Food, Wine, Click! gives us “French Wines for ‘His’ and ‘Hers’ Valentines”
• Jill from L’Occasion takes us on a sensory route “Tasting Romance: French Wine and the Senses”
• Michelle of Rocking Red Blog helps us “Celebrate La Saint-Valentin with French Wine”
• David of Cooking Chat dishes up “French Wine Picks and Pairings for Valentine’s Day”
• Lauren from The Swirling Dervish shares “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Wines”
• Liz from What’s in that Bottle pairs “Celebrate Galentine’s Day with French Wines & Fondue”
• Gwen at Wine Predator shares “Sweethearts: French Wines and Pizza”
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shows us how to “Spice up your Love Life with Shrimp Etouffee”
• Nicole from Somm’s Table shares “Cooking to the Wine: Domaine Chardigny Saint-Amour with Roasted Salmon and a little Romance”
• Our February host, Lynn at Savor the Harvest shares “L’Amour du vin”

If you’re up early enough, please join us on Twitter this Saturday, February 17, 2018 at 8 am PST/17h in France for a live chat. Find us and join in with the hashtag #Winophiles.

Sources:

• (1) Winesearcher.com
• (2) Winefolly.com

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