Gary,
great episode! Chinons are such a great food wine that not enough shops carry. Perfect with grilled sausage, peppers, and onions. Also, if you haven’t tried any, I’d recommend cab francs from the Finger Lakes. I usually don’t like the Finger Lakes red wines because they tend to be watered down, but cab franc is a big exception. Dr. Frank’s is usually pretty good, as are Miles Wine Cellars and ravines. Always tough to find those wines outside of new york though. Keep up the good work.

Gary… I get a feeling that you’re starting to rush into and out of the blogs. Can I recommend that you take a deep breath before starting an episode? I know you have lots to cover in a short time Iin addition to your other duties) but I think if you compare your recent episodes to the earlier ones you’ll see what I’m talking about. Otherwise, keep up the good work.

I’ll work on it Sam, sorry to let you down.

Again I want to start out by saying that I enjoy the WineLibraryTV episodes and I think you are doing a great job at introducing a lot of new and different wines to your audience. But I do have one small criticism. The noise that the glass makes (against the table) when you swirl the wine is very annoying. I suggest you either lift the glass when swirling or cover the table with a cloth.

Tough crowd…I’m on it 🙁

“The noise that the glass makes (against the table) when you swirl the wine is very annoying”

You are kidding, right?

Gary, you are doing a great job with this, I wouldn’t granulize the suggestions. I would love to see a show on the progression of aging, preferably Cali Pinots, Williams Selyem comes to mind.

Gary: How about a show on cru beaujolais?

Have been drinking Chinon for quite a few years and love it. It is hard to find in this area of the country. Most people don’t know anything about it. Many of them pair great with fish(that is the traditional French pairing) How about Chateau Gaillaird-Saumur? Very interesting wine for the price-cabernet franc also. Served it to some people who don’t drink much wine and they loved it.

Hey Gary,

Do you think that maybe the second Chinon was corked? This is the second episode that I have seen where you refer to a wine’s aroma with the musty smells and flavors that to me always indicate a little excess TCA……..wet newspaper, wet paper bags, damp carpet spiderwebs, etc. It seemed even more clear when you tasted the wines and said that you felt as if they were just putting forth the minimum. That is a perfect description of a corked wine, in my opinion. So, I guess my question is, since you didn’t mention the possibility that the wines were corked, what made you think that they were simply not well made, as opposed to tainted? Keep up the good work!!!

John trust me when I tell you I would call a wine corked , The newspaper and dampness comes along with other classic corked flavors/aromas that it didn’t have, I also restasted a bottle of the exact Chinon this morning and found the same results! I will of course mention a corked wine If I get it!

Winelibrary has been the best source I have found for well priced Loire cab franc wines. Good call on Gary’s part buying these.

Gary,

I actually like the sound of the glass when you’re swirling the wine. Reminds me of real wine tasting. It’s exactly what I do when I’m having a wine tasting party or at a winery. It’s not annoying at all, it’s part of tasting wine. Just do what comes naturally to you, that’s what makes these videos great.

I love Chateauneuf de Papes, so I’ve added Vacqueyras to my list of wines to try.

Firstly, I wanted to tell you how much i enjoy Wine Library TV and your store. (I have spent more at Winelibarary than on my kids’ education over the past year.)

I really agree with your recos. Unfortunately, i also agreed with your assessment of the Chinon.I am a fan of cabs and pinot noirs, and as you predicted I absolutely hated it.

To me the aftertaste of leather strap was really offputting. It tasted like something contaminated the bottle. The Walter Hansel 2002 Pinot Noir I bought based on a WL associate reco also had this horrible taste.

How the heck did you/WS like this?

Gary,

Good episode. I enjoued watching it. I agree with you on Raffault 2003. I tried it before and it did not impress me at all. In fact, I tasted this wine with Whitecliff’s (Hudson Valley) Cab Frank and found the latter must more exciting. I am very intrigued by Noblaie and look forward to trying it.

Zor

Hey Gary

You were tasting young Chinon at room temperature. Waste of time. Loire reds are intended to be tasted and consumed at cellar temperature (50ºF to 60ºF) in their youth. At that temperature these wines come to life. It is why they have become such a popular paring to grilled fish.

Only in great years, such as 2003, do they age well and are then best drunk at room temperature. Couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of opening a 1989 Saumur Champigny (down the road from Chinon.) You never know with something that crusty, but, sigh, that was a great year and a terrific bottle.

While never exciting Raffault is one of the most consistent of Chinon producers. Give yourself a thrill and go try them again.

Vacqueyras goes on the list of “Must Trys”
Julius…are you serious here? WOW…most people I know swirl on the table (Mostly casue they are afraid to spill) but dang…that’s rough.

B

I love Cab Franc wines. I really like the olive/earth/vegetal quality of these wines. They are great food wines. I really like 100% cab franc and cab franc blends as well. I havenâ??t tried Vacqueyras wines to my recollection, but that will be corrected. I like CDP wines a lot and Rhone/Rhone style GSM’s in general as well. I really liked the Noblaie Chinon Rouge. Here is a review I posted for this wine:

“Bell pepper, lots of olive and mushroom, and a mineral quality reminiscent of iron/blood give this Chinon a way different tone to the fruit driven Zinfandel, Malbec, and Shiraz that I’ve been drinking lately. This was a refreshingly different alternative to these other styles. There was a little plum on the palate, but not much fruit besides that. Still, this wine tasted well rounded and had a nice if complex balance to it. This is a dry wine, but with open easy tannins.”

Gary was right about this wine. It did need to breathe a bit to open up, but there was an insane amount of different flavors going on.

Thank you Gary, for the second opinion on Montirius. We’re their Irish importer and I hope you won’t mind my
link to WLTV in an attempt to persuade more of our customers to give these great wines a try.

Interesting. Have you tried the organic wine being grown there at Clos de Caveau?

Great episode! Thanks alot for helping me expand my horizons. I Can’t stand Cali cabs and Aussie shiraz so I have to really search for wines i’d like. Maybe more episodes on old school wine? I know i’m in the minority but it’s worth a shot.

I have tried that exact bottle of Vacqueyras and it tottaly got me into them…it is value central! Totally a novice in Chinon….

GV- I’ve watched almost every episode now and I may have taken more from this episode than any other. Thanks! Really informative, fun, good tasting notes, will search out both.

Wow, a little controversy about the wine being corked. I’ve had a corked bottle before, and it a very distinct taste. You can usually tell if it’s the wine or if it’s been corked.

I have never had a wine from either of these regions – looks like yet another area I am going to need to check out.