Touraine "Le Clos de Vauriou," Domaine Ricard 2008
$12. 12.5% alcohol. Composite cork. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
No high-fallutin' tasting note today. Just a quick nod to what's been one of my favorite everyday vins de soif of late. After a couple of recent vintages where "Le Clos de Vauriou" was a bit hit-or-miss due to issues with bottle variation and/or acetic acid bacteria, the 2008 has been rock solid. It delivers a mouthful of joyous fruit, abounds with character and pairs admirably with a damn wide range of dishes. I said it in May and I'm sayin' it again.... Ever so slightly tart acids, energetic texture, berries, pepper and a blood orange kick make it one of my most memorable $12 bottles of the year. As young Vincent Ricard promises/predicts on his website, "Vauriou" is indeed now throwing a deposit of fine, suspended particles, giving the wine a somewhat cloudy appearance but rendering it no less delicious than when it first came ashore.
Oh yeah, just in case you were wondering, "Le Clos de Vauriou" is varietal Gamay. File it under mid-week recession busters.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Vincent Ricard's "Le Clos de Vauriou"
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3 comments:
Happy to say - am finally getting Gamay.
Varietal Gamay "La Butte" 08 from Clos Tué Boeuf rocked my evening. And just a drop of Juliénas 06 and Fleurie 05 suggested a vast world beyond basic Bojo.
For further investigation.
(And I can also say I'd never tasted blood orange in wine until today. I actually wrote down exactly that on a Loire blend import so I'm kinda delighted to read your note now.)
One of my goals before my demise is to find a wine made from Gamay that I actually like.
The closest I've come is with the NV Domaine Ricard Le Vinsans Rouge. But a sparkling wine made from Gamay doesn't really count, lol.
Glad to hear it, Marcus. Tue Boeuf (Puzelat), Clos Roche Blanche and Ricard all make excellent examples of Gamay in the Touraine. Beaujolais is really where it's at, though. Be sure to check out the producers to whom I gave the nod in this post. There's a whole new world waiting out there, just waiting for you to explore.
Tom,
"Vinsans" is indeed pretty damn tasty. Just drank a bottle a couple of weeks ago.... As I've already stated, though, there's plenty of other great Gamay-based wine out there. Maybe one of these nights I'll stop by Domaine with a few brown bags in tow.
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