Some recommended whites

Before I get to the tasting and reviews of these wines, a quick reminder about what this site is about.
The only real way to learn about wines is to taste them. Obviously when I go to France, there are too many in the shops to buy and taste them all. So this site it to encourage people to buy a few wines, try them, and share their opinions with other people on this site.

Sometimes, you can meet some other English people who have popped over to do some shopping, and see if they can make any recommendations. This happened a few months ago whilst shopping in Auchan, when I met an English couple who recommended a specific white wine. So on their recommendation, I bought a few bottles.
See how this compares to a two others, including one of my favourite whites.

Just me and Mary tasting these 3 white wines.

Domaine Michel David

• Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 2017
• Clos de Ferre, Vieilles Vignes, Sur Lie
• €4.99 from Auchan
• Recommended by me

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Aroma : Light, floral, fresh.
Taste: Pleasant taste, would go well with a fish starter.

Mary

Aroma: Light/subtle aroma, maybe a bit week.
Taste: Very nice, light and fresh. Uncomplicated. Goes down well and easy on the palette. My favourite of the three.

Paul

Saint Bris

• Sauvignon 2017
• Domaine Sorin de France
• €5.95 from Auchan
• Recommended by a man that I started chatting to in Auchan.

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Aroma: Stronger than the previous one (the Muscadet), slightly acidic.

Taste: A stronger taste too, slightly bitter and peppery. Would go well with a fish main dish

Mary

Aroma: Nice fuller flavour.
Taste: Nice A stronger flavour, More of a meatier bite to it.

Paul

Touraine

• Sauvignon 2016
• Normally €4.50 from Auchan
• However on special offer 6 for €21.60 (this is €3.60 per bottle)
• On offer, so we thought we would give it a try

• 

• 

Aroma: Very nice, with a herbal smell.

Taste: Very nice, I like this the best of the three.

Mary

Aroma: Subtle and perfumed.

Taste: Light and fresh, but still with substance.

Paul

Comments

Remember, just because someone else prefers a specific wine, does not mean you will to. How many other wines did that person taste? As I said at the beginning, you can’t taste them all.

So although the ‘recommended by man I chatted to at Auchan’ wine, the Saint Bris, Sauvignon 2017, was a nice wine, which we both enjoyed, it was our third favourite of the three we tasted. It was also the most expensive of the three. So more expensive wines are not always better. But again, it is a case of personal taste. It did have a stronger smell and what I described as a ‘meatier’ taste. Some people may like this wine more, but I preferred the lighter fresher Muscadet.

As I noticed on some previous tastings, for me, there is not always a direct correlation between aroma and taste. I find that some wines with stronger aromas can sometimes be a bit overpowering when you taste them. And some with a blander or less strong smell have a more pleasant and subtle taste.

I am a big fan of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine wines. I find them to be light, fresh, and dry. I specifically those that say ‘Vielles Vignes’ and ‘Sur Lie’. (Vielles Vignes = ‘old vines, and Sur Lie= ‘on the lees’. Not absolutely sure what ‘on the lees’ means.

I will be looking at Muscadet Sèvre et Maine wines in more detail in future posts, and will find out what ‘on the lees’ means, and comparing a few different ones. My favourite two so far are the Domaine Michel David tasted here and this one by Clos de Beauregard.

They are both virtually identical in both taste and price. (When my cousin Fred was over, we had some of this wine, and he really liked it).

To prove how ignorant I still am about wine, (remember, this is only my third month of blogging) I did not know what a ‘Touraine’ was.

According to Wikipedia ‘Touraine is an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the Loire Valley wine region in France that produce dry, white wines and red wines rich in tannins‘
So not that dissimilar to the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine which are also from around the Loire valley. Probably why I like this wine too. It was Mary’s favourite of the three. It was also the cheapest, and this was at the normal price. At the ‘special offer’ price of €3.60 per bottle, it was really good value. Out of curiosity, I did a search on buying a white Touraine on the internet to compare prices when buying in the UK.

So you can see how much you can save by buying wine in France (Hint, Rue de la Providence is available for rent in Boulogne). But I might try Aldi for a comparison.

A note about temperatures

My other post for January 2019 is on temperatures to serve wine, and using a wine thermometer. So having just written that post, I noticed on the back label of two of the wines, they put a recommended serving temperature.

The Touraine Sauvignon label recommends 10°C, and the Saint Bris
Sauvignon between 10°C and 12°C . This confirms what I found out when looking at best temperature for white wines. Don’t serve them too chilled, take the bottle out of the fridge a bit before you serve.