Let me preface this post by saying I have no idea about anything related to wine, so if I come across as ignorant please bear with me.
My girlfriend loves wine and I’m trying to find her a Christmas gift. She spent a year studying abroad in France and lived in Normandy. Because she was a college student she said they just drank cheap wine while she was there. I thought it would be nice to get her a nice bottle of wine from the Normandy region of France. In my search it seems Normandy isn’t really known for producing a lot of wine. That has lead me head as I continue my pursuit. I was hoping some kind wine experts here might be able to offer me some advice, insight, or simply point me in the right direction.
I don’t know much about her wine preferences except she prefers Red, doesn’t like fruity or overly sweet wines. When we go out she usually orders some type of Cabernet.
Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but I hope this information here will at least give a bit of insight to what I think she would prefer and what would make a good gift. I’m trying to keep the price under $50 too as I know she doesn’t want me spending much on her, but I’m really just hoping to give her a thoughtful gift that she would never really buy for herself.
Think cider vs. wine if specific to Normandy, if you are looking for wine instead of region, just find a nice Cabernet-based Bordeaux like 2016 Lanessan for $22.
Hi Nathan, others may be better suited to answer this, but I’m not aware of wine growing regions actually in Normandy. It looks like the nearest “AOC” regions are in Champagne or the Loire. Put simply, these are officially designated and recognized places that can use the name of their specific place on their label. So while there may be wine grown there it might be difficult to find. Normandy is much more closely associated with ciders. French ciders tend to be very dry and quite complex, relatively low in alcohol and most are rather inexpensive, at least compared to better wines. They tend to be less funky and therefore a bit less risky than, for instance, some Spanish ciders. I highly recommend Eric Bordelet for both his apple and his pear cider.
Of course, there’s a good chance that while there she was drinking a lot of Loire wines or even wines from the South of France. The Loire produces many great wines. Most of the reds are based on Cabernet franc. If you want to try one of those, I’d look for wines from Bernard Baudry, and he makes many great wines well in your price range. Another very good producer is Charles Joguet. If you go to a good local wine shop and ask for help they can probably assist you with this and if it’s a decent retailer there’s a chance they’l have wines from one of these producers. You’ll likely even have enough money left over for a bottle of high quality cider. That region produces excellent whites as well from Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. Good luck!
Nathan - It’s probably too far north for quality red wine. Red grapes ripen later than whites, which is a problem the further north you go. The most northerly quality red areas in France, the Loire Valley and Burgundy, are quite a bit further south than Normandy.
Some good reds are produced at the same latitude in Germany, but in a particularly sunny area along the Rhine, and generally on steep slopes that expose the vines to more sunshine. (Pinot noir is grown in the Ahr Valley further north, but that’s a special microclimate, those vineyards are extremely steep and the wines are quite light.)
I don’t think Normandy has an abundance of sun or steep hills, so I doubt red grapes would fully ripen.
It’s about the same latitude as Champagne, so you’d think white grapes might do OK, but I’ve never heard of any from that area.
I marked up a map comparing the latitudes. Click on it to see a readable version.
Think Calvados or Armagnac for Normandy. These are more like cognac than like wine and a good Armagnsc will be nearer $100. You should be able to find Calvados for $40-50. If you want wine, given what you and she like, I’d look for a Bordeaux.
Research restaurants in the town she studied in, pull up their websites, look for wine lists, and try to see if you can get the wines by the glass. I would guess that would be like the cheap stuff she was drinking. Bon chance!
Look up the Route de Cidre. I was just there and the cider and calvados are great. What is just happening in craft beer world has been going
on for decades in Normandy. There are no vineyards. Restaurants in Bayeux and Caen have wines form Loire and Languedoc.
There is no doubt she had wine while living in Normandie but most likely it was from another part of the country, if I had to guess.
Note that they make Pommeau in Normandie which is like Pineau in Cognac and drunk eagerly as an aperitif including at lunch and I would suggest it to others as an authentic product of Normandie. Two-thirds apple must and the remainder Calvados. Due to its sweetness would be widely appreciated even by those who don’t typically drink wine.
Strange they call Calvados an Apple brandy while defining brandy as distilled wine. A contradiction in terms it seems. Calvados is distilled cider AFAIK.
I’m with those recommending a Cabernet-based red from Bordeaux. She was probably drinking red wine from somewhere in France other than Normandy. Based on your description of her preferences, I’m guessing she’d enjoy a Bordeaux. The Lanessan recommendation above is a good one. Meyney and Sociando Mallet are also good, a bit of a step up in quality IMO, and still in your price range. The 2014, 2015, and 2016 vintages are all available and are all good. These are wines that can improve with age but are drinkable now. The 2015 might be the most open and user friendly at this young stage.
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