It's easy for reds to feel ponderously heavy in the summer, especially when they are concentrated, elevated in alcohol and lavished with new oak. But, we all still want to drink red wines from time to time during warm weather. Leave it to the out-of-the-box renegade - and seriously good palate and globe-trotting winemaker - Ernst Loosen to find not only a solution but also a very gently priced one. Moreover, the wines come from France's Languedoc, a region formerly strapped with the reputation of producing clumsy, jammy wines.
Read MoreJean-Claude Mas aims to make wines with a “luxuriously rustic” character. Interpretation is everything, and it’s easy for the mind to spin on those words. These are classy wines from highly selective and ambitious cellars that punch above their weight classes (a.k.a. price points). Whether you enjoy them at your urban dining table or on a blanket spread in the countryside of southwestern France (the only way I can see “rustic” entering the picture), it’s pretty easy to feel the luxury of each sip, especially in the case of the Château Paul Mas Belluguette!
Read MoreDomaine Paul Mas NV Blanquette de Limoux Méthode Ancestrale St. Hilaire: Whoa! This bubbly has a honeysuckle-driven nose with a peach pie palate! It’s not often I taste pure Mauzac, yet this one packs plenty of come-hither attraction that reminds me it’s a great way to finish off a meal.
Read MoreI recently learned that Limoux was the second most-imported-to-the-USA French, traditional method sparkler after Champagne. Who knew?
Read MoreGenerous in youthful fruit and near lavish in minerality. Blackberries, cassis and sage mesh with asphalt and animale.
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