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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 87.5 pts. and median of 88 pts. in 17 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by rogerr on 1/24/2017 & rated 90 points: Tool about 30 mins to open up and then very enjoyable. (1033 views) | | | Tasted by j.a.price.trucking on 12/10/2014 & rated 87 points: Nothing wrong with it. But didn't stand out either. Balanced on the darker, jammier side. Dark fruit. Bass notes. Not much finish. (1583 views) | | | Tasted by janwiwes on 10/17/2012 & rated 87 points: Dark color, fruit and vanilla in the nose. Red fruit on the palate, some acidity, but nice and long aftertaste. (3150 views) | | | Tasted by TowerCellar on 5/11/2012 & rated 86 points: Extremely dark, almost a petite sirah style. It's got a very fruit forward flavor, with strong notes of vanilla. This felt more of a wine that needed to be paired with something that cut through the thickness, as we had it to drink by itself. While others I was drinking it with really loved it, I think it was a bit too much of a one-note wine without any interesting subtleties. However, it definitely is an interesting wine I'd say works almost as a dessert wine if paired excellently. (3832 views) | | | Tasted by MuffyMan on 4/11/2012 & rated 86 points: Cherries, jammy, juicy, but with just enough acidity to hold it all together. Nice weeknight wine. (3551 views) | | | Tasted by graphite on 1/21/2012 & rated 90 points: Cherries, nut oil, and spice. Very extracted fruit without veering into sweetness or over-ripeness. A nice example of modern winemaking which retains a sense of terroir. Will please old world and new world drinkers. [Tasted in flight of four 100% Carignan wines - showed the best of the bunch.] (2820 views) | | | Tasted by mdefreitas on 1/4/2012 & rated 89 points: A nice bottle for the price. Juicy raspberry pie filling, violets and a slight meaty element. Very youthful and fruit driven with a slightly spikey structure. The fruit is ample, but this really needs time to rest and come together. (2565 views) | | | Tasted by mdefreitas on 12/8/2011 & rated 90 points: Popped and poured. A bit better than my last bottle. Tart raspberry, cranberry, minerals and licorice. Nice cling on the palate with a juicy finish. A wine that grows and grows on me. Less tart pn day two, with a more meaty aspect to it. (1767 views) | | | Tasted by mdefreitas on 11/4/2011 & rated 88 points: Very fruity, yet quite bright and crisp. Lots of blackberry pie, spice and licorice. A bit monotone, but food friendly and budget friendly. (1909 views) | | | Tasted by Roughl on 7/9/2011 & rated 88 points: This is what the bottle says: table wine... or at least what table wine should be. Not complicated, very fruity, good straight out of the bottle and at a decent pricepoint. Is this acified? I like it for what it is. (1996 views) | | | Tasted by Atwellian on 6/20/2011 & rated 86 points: Liked this second bottle a little better. Less blueberry sweetness and Pleasant bitter cherry finish. (1954 views) | | | Tasted by Atwellian on 6/17/2011 & rated 85 points: Reminds me of a Gamay. Simple, straitforward, fruity and a little sweet. Blueberry and a bit of black pepper. A pleasannt touch of bitterness creeping in after an hour or so. This is not a complicated wine. Nicely tannic finish, deep purple red color. (1926 views) | | | Tasted by graphite on 2/7/2011 & rated 88 points: Fresh blueberries, mulberries, and blackberries underpinned by a hint of smoke and overlaid with pine nut and a bit of menthol. Admirable for its fresh, pure fruit. Unfortunately, finishes with too much alcoholic heat for my taste. (2109 views) |
| L'Oustal Blanc (Isabel et Claude Fonquerle) Producer website
Claude and Isabel Fonquerle began farming Minervois La Liviniere in 2002, in partnership with oenologist Philippe Cambie of Chateauneuf du Pape. (They also have a sliver of acreage near one of their two facilities, in the St. Chinian appellation.) Nearly all of their vines are old and head pruned. Fruit is rigorously selected at picking, chilled overnight, and then sorted twice more by bunch and berry before crushing, and fermentative skin contact can run for one or two months! “While Chateauneuf remains the source of my orientation,” says Claude, “Burgundy is my inspiration. The purity of fruit and the minerality in those wines is something magical. Think of Henri Jayer!” I’ve heard that Burgundy line the world over, and I’m not sure to what extent I’d call these wines “Burgundian.” But purity of fruit and elements one can only describe as “mineral,” they surely display in abundance. It would be less misleading – and no exaggeration – to say that this team has already redefined the potential of Minervois, and bottled what are almost certainly the finest and most exciting wines ever grown in that appellation, not to mention their representing extraordinary values. This is not the same as saying “of that appellation,” incidentally, because not all L’Oustal Blanc wines follow the blends permitted or the protocol prescribed for Minervois. The Fonquerle’s mutual inspiration and admiration with horn player Jacques Adnet of the Paris Opera has resulted in the re-christening of their upper-level cuvees with names inspired by music. Not all L’Oustal Blanc wines follow the blends permitted or the protocol prescribed for Minervois. A case in point is their remarkable whites, vinified in new and once-used Vosges demi-muids, and built around a rare stand of Grenache Gris, planted in 1948 under the direction of Baron Leroy (of Chateauneuf and A.O.C. fame) for blending with Grenache (the parcel that now informs Fonquerle’s Prima Dona – see below) to make fortified sweet wine. Macabeu plays a bit part in this l’Oustal white. Surely it’s no coincidence that what I unhesitatingly call the most exciting whites in the Languedoc share these two cepages with the most profoundly delicious whites of Roussillon. “Well, after all,” Fonquerle says when I point this out (discounting the Macabeu), “most of the world’s great wines are mono-cepage.” As my reviews of the numerous wines of Claude and Isabel Fonquerle that are legally only vins de table were confined to the on-line version of issue 183, I have taken the liberty of re-publishing in this issue the reviews of two of those that retail for under $25, and are among the finest values today in southern French wines. - David Schildknecht, The Wine AdvocateK On weinlagen-info France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comFranceBeaune, Bourgogne |
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