Suggest some French reds based on my Cali tastes

WINE TALK
21

In a more limited budget sense, the recs for languedoc and roussilon are good. Plenty of good stuff in the Rhone and the ripe years will provide all of the ripe fruit. We are talking CDR Villages. I’m not a big fan of very ripe fruit in general but these can be wonderful. The Usseglio CDP recs are also spot on. Too ripe for me but so are all the CA people you mention!

22

Start with Cotes du Rhones, move to Northern Rhones, then graduate to Bordeaux later.

23

Anything by Jonathan Maltus:

Teyssier
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/teyssier/1/usa

Laforge
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/laforge/1/usa

Le Carre
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/le+carre/1/usa

Les Asteries
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/les+asteries/1/usa

Vieux Mazerat
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/vieux+mazerat/1/usa

Le Dome
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/le+dome/1/usa

Anything by Benoit Touquette

Arbalest
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/arbalest/1/usa

French Belle Bordeaux
[Castillon from Dan Philips; I don’t know whether Chris Ringland might also have been involved]
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/french+belle+bordeaux/1/usa

Dave Phinney “Locations” French Red Wine

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/locations+france/1/usa

24

I have a similar palate. These are my favorites. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bottle I haven’t loved in any past 20 vintages of these wines (although I have not had every vintage of these wines in the past 20 years).

Peby
Troplong Mondot (I’ve heard that 2017 and 2018 represent a departure in style, but I haven’t tried them. I tasted a barrel sample of 2019 and it is a return to the riper style)
Bellevue Mondotte
Pape Clement

In ripe vintages (2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) the list expands exponentially. The bottles you can get in the $20 - $35 range that hit the spot in these riper vintages puts CA to shame.

25

Yeah, what the others said: Southern Rhone (Cotes du Rhone, Gigondas, Chateauneuf du Pape, Vayqueras) and Languedoc-Roussillon.

I’d focus less on producer and visit a local wine shop to see what they have at price points of interest to you. That will narrow the choices a bit, and if you are willing to spend $20 to $40 per bottle, still offer a number of options at a good store.

There is one Bandol producer, Gros Nore, though, that if you’re looking for Mourvedre, probably should be in your wheelhouse.

26

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Hopefully I’ll pick up a few tonight.

27

OK, a quick run to Total Wine netted me two selections from the suggestions above.
2015 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf Du Pape
2014 Chateau Troplong Mondot 1er Grand Cru Classe
How’d I do?
I’ll try one or both this weekend.
There’s a French restaurant/wine shop in town but I didn’t spot anything that looked familiar. The guy that runs the place is a little intimidating and I didn’t want like to look stupid so I ended up leaving with a The Mascot instead of anything French.

28

I’d encourage you to give the French wine shop another try after you sample the Troplong & Mordoree.

Something like this will make you look good, while letting the proprietor display his expertise (hopefully):

“I’m looking for a Grenache-based red from Southern France. Do you have any supple, forward selections in the price range?”

If this shop is any good, they’ll parse those key words and supply you with a wine that is delicious, likely a good value, and fairly modern and fruit driven, probably from a producer no one has hit on yet.

1 Like
29

Berserker Dan Kravitz has been working, sampling and importing across the whole of Southern France for longer than most here have been collecting fine wine.

From Provence to the Rousillion - Spanish border (i.e.: Languedoc and the Rhone Valley). He’s too principled to recommend his own wines, but you could do a ton worse than following his suggestions. His wines offer excellent value.

Maybe send him a PM: https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=8376

RT

30

Here are a few vintages for which I could find statistics on the California wines:

???? Austin Hope: Paso Robles ???% CS + ???% PV
2018 Lail Blueprint: 100% CS
2015 Cade Howell Mountain: 91% CS, 6% PV, 3% Merlot
2014 Cade Howell Mountain Reserve: 100% CS
2016 Bounty Hunter Frontier Justice Beckstoffer Dr. Crane: 53% CS, 47% CF, 2% PV

And here are the two French wines which you procured:

2014 Troplong Mondot: 90% Merlot, 8% CS, 2% CF
2015 Mordoree CdP La Reine des Bois: 75% Grenache, 14% Mourvèdre and the rest Syrah, Vaccarèse and Counoise

So you’re largely comparing Cabernet Sauvignon [generally with just a touch of Petit Verdot] from Northern California to Merlot, Grenache and Mourvedre from the South of France.

With such a radical change in varieties [or “cultivars”] of vinifera, it could be difficult to calibrate your sense of what you’re tasting from France vis-a-vis what you had been tasting from Northern California.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that [being unable to calibrate], just don’t be surprised if it happens - if you get a sense that you simply don’t understand what you just put in your mouth.

Also, I’d strongly argue for following those wines for several days [and especially the Troplong Mondot for a week or more] in order to learn the oxidation curves.

31

Mordorée is very good, one of my favorites, assuming it is the La Dame and not la Reine? La Dame is good while la Reine at twice the price is excellent. I was also going to suggest CdP as I had a similar palate starting out, and I still enjoy big fruit bombs if they’re not overly sweet, and immediately gravitated there. A couple of no-brainers are Beaucastel and Janasse Vieilles Vignes.

This hasn’t been suggested, partly because it’s not red and partly because I think the wine snobs are avoiding this thread like the plague, but Champagne is really fun to start exploring. Most of us Americans think of champagne as just a NYE or Birthday celebration drink but we’re starting to lean more and more to a bottle of champagne to start an evening. Lots of threads on grower champagnes to get started.

Also, start following the Best Deals thread, there are some excellent deals being posted on places like wine.com and wineaccess.com where you can pick up onesies and twosies of nice French wines for almost 1/2 off.

32

I wouldn’t look to French reds that would necessarily appeal to your Cali tastes. Instead, I would jump right in to French wines that might show you a contrast with your Cali tastes, and what you might be missing (if you happen to like them). I would steer you to a great cru Beaujolais (Foillard’s Cote du Py, Charly Thevenet’s “Grain and Granit”, Jean-Paul Thevenet’s Morgon VV, or Guy Breton’s Regnie), or maybe a nice Premier Cru red Burgundy with some age on it…or maybe something from Bandol or Jura.

On the flip side, if you DO want to see both a contrast with AND some similarities to your existing Cali tastes, look for a Bordeaux with 10+ years of age. Some good suggestions above for Bordeaux, but you don’t have to spend above $60 to get some good ones.

33

I did the exact opposite. Started on the bold end and gravitated to the more mineral driven, Grenache based wines of southern Rhône. Wine is a journey. [cheers.gif]

34

I second this, and would also add that the '09 drinks wonderfully right now too, and might perhaps be easier to find.

I don’t even usually like that style of Bordeaux, but for one reason or another, I positively love that specific wine.

35

Same here. Every few years I have one, fully expecting to no longer like it due to palate shift, and my love for it is surprisingly persistent.

36

Smith Haut Lafitte 2014 is a good value at under $100
Monbousquet
Sociando Mallet