by Tim York » Fri Jul 12, 2024 3:59 pm
We are doing a vinous Tour de France all the time. Since our daughter rejoined the household, we consume more than one bottle a day and at least 95% of these are French. About once a week or even less, I delve into my dwindling reserves of mature wines, where Italy is better represented together with a handful of well known Californians, but for the most part our consumption is locally purchased wine about 99% French.
Most of these locally purchased bottles cost less than €12 and some as little as €6. These come from nearly all regions except Burgundy (other than Beaujolais) where international demand means prices mostly well in excess of €12 for both reds and whites. The regions offering the best QPR, IMO, are S.Rhône and more surprisingly Bordeaux. I'll try to post about recent consumption from a variety of regions in a few days.
Coincidentally, la Revue du Vin de France (RVF) has devoted its latest number to a Tour de France of 1500 bottles costing €20 or less ex the producers' cellars. This is a fascinating survey of mostly little known estates and it confirms my view on the values to be found in Bordeaux outside the expensive big names. It also suggests quite a few good values in Burgundy, mostly from outside the Côte d'Or, although lesser villages like Santenay, Savigny and Pernand-Vergelesses do get mentions. The fly in the ointment is that I don't recall having seen most of these wines on offer here in Normandy. Of course, we can purchase directly from the estates but transport costs mean that it is not very tempting to order in quantities of less than a dozen.
Tim York
