Log In / Join Now News & Features Home What Am I Tasting Food & Travel Home Wine & Food Pairing Free Trial Online Membership The page you're looking for could not be found.  Our team has been notified of this problem. You can try searching for content by using our General Site Search tool or one of our specialized search tools: Tasting Notes DatabaseRetailers SearchRestaurant Search If you'd like more information, please contact us. French red wine values tasted in 2011 The selected French bottlings have given me much pleasure for the price. I have purchased them again for personal consumption. I would consider doing so even with a 50 percent mark-up. (My criteria are explained here.) You’ll learn the availability of wines if you enter a location name in the search box at the top of the page. The below wines were tasted in France, in 2011 (between April and December). The tasting notes are listed by increasing prices, with the following format:

Appellation - producer - plot or brand - varietyVintage - approximate price - general impression - on nose - on palate - after swallowing Vin de pays d'oc - Intervins - Mis en bouteille à F-11000 - Cabernet sauvignonbest premium wine brands 2009 - 2 € - Dianames of wine from california Haut médoc - - Château du Breuildry white wine picture 2008 - 5.4 € - typical but with no pepper - reasonable élevage, ripe red fruit - onctuous, gentle élevage, the balance is food-friendlyCarrefourbuy italian wine online Côtes de provence - Domaine de Jale - La Vennebest wine to drink when you have a cold

2008 - 6.5 € - typical - red fruit - red fruit, aromatic, dense but juicy, much alcohol, food-friendly Saint chinian - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Les Travers de Marceau 2010 - 6.5 € - typical, intense red fruit - dense, food-friendlybest wine for white elephant Saint chinian - Jean-Marie Rimbert - Le Chant de Marjolaine (carignan) 2009 - 7 € - too young - punchy, dries the mouth, a varietal background note, food-friendly Vin de France - La Grange aux Belles - Le Vin de Jardin - Grolleau 2010 - 7 € - tasted at low temperature, great purity of fruit - wax polish, gooseberry - red fruit, no pepper, fresh, happily gulping Bordeaux - - L'Arpent - Cuvée des cerisiers 2007 - 7 € - fruity and flowing, no élevage - unripe cherry - astringent (draws mouth tissues together), pink grapefruit Saumur champigny - Domaine Filliatreau - Domaine Filliatreau (Tradition)

2008 - 7.7 € - red fruit, green pepper - harmonious, red fruit, green pepper, juicy, standing firm Anjou - Marc Houtin et Julien Bresteau - La Grange aux Belles - 53 - Cabernet franc 2008 - 9 € - varietal but with no bell pepper - harmonious, a red fruit that would smell of raw red meat, full grape ripeness, no vegetal note, no trace of élevage - intense, dense, dries the palate, firm Pic saint loup - Blandine Chauchat - Foulaquier - Les Tonillières 2009 - 8.7 € - Morgon - Geneviève et Jean-Claude Chanudet - Domaine J. Chamonard 2008 - 10 € - delicious, intense - strawberry, brandy cherry, roast beef (reduction?) - strawberry, roast beef, juicy, less dense than the 2005, fresher than the 2006, a firm balance Fleurie - G. Chanudet - La Madone 2008 - 10 € - cherry, blackcurrant - not onctuous, cherry, blackcurrant, a green note (incomplete grape ripeness), juicy, sharper than the Morgon, standing firm You may be emailed when several tasting reports are issued if you write your email address below.

(There currently are 2058 subscribers.) Where to find good wines with no sulfites:Los Angeles, CA  |  2011 Bordeaux Wine Vintage Report and Buying Guide with Tasting Notes , Reviews and Ratings for the top 350 wines from every Bordeaux wine appellation, St. Estephe , Pauillac , St. Julien , Margaux , Pessac Leognan , Pomerol , St Emilion and all the Satellite Appellations as well. The following tasting notes were from tasting’s in April in Bordeaux. They are arranged by appellation from north to south in the Medoc , followed by Pessac Leognan, Pomerol, St. Emilion and various lesser appellations. This is the order in which the wines were tasted. For a detailed report on the weather and vintage characteristics: 2011 Bordeaux Wine To read close to 50 different, exclusive articles with in depth interviews with chateaux owners and wine makers on the 2011 Bordeaux vintage and harvest : 2011 Bordeaux Harvest Reports, News, Interviews and Photographs 2011 Bordeaux is a good, but not great vintage with some nice wines.

As a matter of taste , there is more red fruit than black fruit. You will not find dark flavors than you will experience in higher-alcohol, riper vintages like 2010, 2009 or 2005. You’ll taste more cassis and cherry and less blackberry or liqueur. Very little licorice or other ripe sensations appear in the wines. 2011 Bordeaux wines are in general, fresh, bright, aromatic and show more acidity than the previously mentioned vintages. The wines are less concentrated in flavor this vintage when compared with recent years like 2009 and 2010. However, the wines are ripe. Because they are lower in alcohol, you have less of a voluptuous feeling in the mouth. The problem with many wines is too much extraction and wood. Using the same techniques in 2011 that were practiced in 2010 will not return good results. Those wines feel dry in the mouth. Most of the wines can age, but 2011 Bordeaux is not a vintage to cellar for decades. Similar to 2001 Bordeaux, many of the wines will start drinking well between 5 and 10 years after the vintage.

2011 Bordeaux shares another commonality with 2001 Bordeaux, a myriad of chateaux from Pomerol produced outstanding wine. Some St. Emilion estates also produced fine wine.  Overall, the right Bank was more successful than the Cabernet Sauvignon based wines from the Medoc or Pessac Leognan, although, some wines of quality were produced there as well.   2011 Bordeaux is also another excellent year for the sweet Bordeaux wines of Sauternes and Barsac as well as being strong for the white wines of Bordeaux. To buy or not to buy? Buying Bordeaux wine comes to down price and quality. Every chateaux owner and director know prices need to come down. How far they will drop is the question. Most owners and directors feel their wines are priced fair. It is their neighbors that need to give the biggest discounts. For the wines to sell through to consumers, the wines need to take a big step back in price. I’d like to see reductions from 2010 drop by 40% to 50% for many properties. Based on the few wines that have been released so far, that is unlikely to happen.

The results for sales and interest does not bode well.  Robert Parker will release his report, April 27. The results from his journal, the most widely read and important Bordeaux report, along with the poor reception for the wines having been released so far, will hopefully prod producers to reduce their prices to the 50% mark from the very expensive 2010 vintage.  If not, consumers should look to purchasing more wines from the outstanding 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux vintages. Links to wines tasting notes for the top 350 Bordeaux wines from the 2011 vintage: 2011 St. Estephe Guide to the Best Wines of the Vintage 2011 Pauillac, Guide to the Best Wines of the Vintage 2011 St Julien Guide to the Best Wines of the Vintage 2011 Margaux, Guide to the Best Wines of the Vintage 2011 Haut Medoc Tasting Notes, Ratings, Reviews Buying Guide 2011 Pessac Leognan Guide to the Best Wines of the Vintage 2011 Pomerol Guide to the Best Wines of the Vintage 2011 St. Emilion Guide to the Best Wines of the Vintage