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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2010 and 2013 (based on 9 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.6 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 8 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by rdriver on 4/30/2012 & rated 89 points: Very pleasant french wine, with clear notes of berries and plum, and a slight sharpness to the structure. Good finish. Enjoyed with some good ol' fried chicken....hah! Can hear them french turning up their noses! (1971 views) | | | Tasted by cmlee7 on 10/20/2010: some bright acidity, violets on the nose, dark berries, plum. (2485 views) | | | Tasted by tairanosaurus on 2/16/2010 & rated 91 points: Great. Similar notes to previous. (2650 views) | | | Tasted by tairanosaurus on 12/29/2009 & rated 91 points: Red berries and floral on the nose. Rasberries, flint and mint on the nose. Strong floral and stem overtones. Nice moderate structure with long finish. (2748 views) | | | Tasted by foodie on 11/5/2009 & rated 90 points: Note: This is actually NOT classified Minervois, but Vin de Table. (However, it would be otherwise impossible to tell the difference after consumption.)
Beautiful ruby-amethyst. Captivating nose of ripe fruit and marjoram and summer savory. Candied violet petal and trace of slatey minerality. A real winner on the palate. There is a muted presence of wood, but primary flavors include stewed berries, eucalyptus, smooth tannins and nice acidity. I really think this will benefit from a year or two of aging. At this price this wine is absolutely an excellent value. (3112 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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