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A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - A Mediterranean White Wine
Times are tough. Don't give up on life's little pleasures. Each and every week this sommelier and wine enthusiast will review a $10 (or cheaper) bottle of wine, pairing it with food and cheese and give you his unbiased opinion, and lots of information on the wine, the grape variety, and the winery. You may find a bargain or save your hard-earned money. Get your wine rack ready.
I’m sure that you know about the beauty of the French Mediterranean, an area affectionately called the “Midi”. In opposition to Tuscany, this fantastic region is not particularly well known for fine wines. Many local wines are roses, which are best consumed on a terrace overlooking the sea. The grape Picpoul de Pinet is mostly grown in the Languedoc region of France, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. It is both blended and made into varietal wines.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Terre a Verre les Roches Picpoul de Pinet, 2005 13% alcohol about $10
Let’s start with the marketing materials. Picpoul de Pinet is a grape variety that is a perfect example of the Mediterranean climate in a bottle. Expect hints of citrus, curry, spice, garrigue, and floral in a racy/fresh frame. It is an excellent palate refresher or would match a grilled prawn dish. And now for my review.
I started by sipping this wine alone. It was acidic and refreshing providing a note of honeysuckle. I tasted it with barbecued chicken thighs, French fries spiced with rosemary and garlic, accompanied by green beans cooked with crushed tomatoes. The wine was clearly acidic. It tasted of honeysuckle and citrus with sweet notes. Bizarre, it was sometimes short and sometimes long but always palate cleansing and sometimes metallic.
The second meal involved baked chicken breast in a potato puree, accompanied by green beans in a tomato sauce. I apologize for the double chicken tasting. I did try this wine with shepherd’s pie but because of some dental work the tasting was painful and not at all informative. Anyway, with the chicken breast the wine was lightly sweet with even a taste of honey and refreshing acidity. The Picpoul was moderately long and mouth-filling, quite a pleasant match.
The next meal consisted of an omelet and a commercial artichoke dip with Japanese rice crackers. I felt lip-puckering acidity. The citrus shadow of the wine lasted a long time. The wine was definitely muted by the acidic dip. Interestingly enough, it came out the best with the rice crackers. Later during the meal the wine softened. It became sweet once more in the presence of Wasabi peas.
I finished the tasting with two cheeses. The first cheese was a Provolone. The wine tasted fairly fruity and had good length and acidity. This was better than an average wine and cheese pairing. The marbled Cheddar succeeded in muting the wine, in particular its acidity. This pairing was not nearly as good as the preceding one.
Final verdict. Mixed feelings. There are lots of good $10 wines out there. I don’t see the point of returning to this one. But maybe I’m too harsh. For $10 what can you usually expect from an expensive wine producer such as France?