Favourite French wines

[Brian Ellis]

The previous poll showed that French wines came in head and shoulders over the rest. Let's start narrowing it down to the major wine-growing regions, now. Natch, I don't mean you to include the horrible French plonks, but consider only the wines you really like.

[Umfriend]

I choose Other although Bordeaux would have been more appropriate. I meant that I prefer specific wines from the Bordeaux, i.e. Pomerol.

It's alwasys nice to have polls about things that really matter!

[Brian Ellis]

If appropriate, I intended going to specific types within the winning region for the next poll. For example, in the unlikely event that Loire came out top, I might include Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Nantais, Anjou, Saumur, Touraine etc. (Actually, although I would not class my all-time favourite as a Loire wine, I believe the first two I named above to be the best French wines to go with fish and I have a penchant for the red and rosé pinot noir wines from the central Loire valley.)

[ZokesPro]

I voted for Beaujolais. It's one of the wines the gf and I regularly buy. But she's the wine connaisseur (or connaisseuse, in her case), I merely taste and enjoy them.

[Umfriend]

cc, Brian, in that case please count my vote as a Bordeaux. You might want to split this into a Red and White poll as for White the Loire would indeed be my choice. By default I assume red wine as I like red far better than white.

[Brian Ellis]

So far, this looks as if it may become interesting and may produce some inexpected results. I haven't voted myself yet, as I'm torn between Rhône (e.g., Croze-Hermitage or Châteauneuf-de-Pape) and some good Burgundies (e.g., Chambolle-Musigny or Gevrey-Chambertin). This is not to say that Alsace and Beaujolais don't produce some interesting brews, but the Gamay grape of the latter tends to make for lighter wines which are best drunk fairly young and hitting the right stage of development where the balance between the sugar, tannin and acidity is right can be rather hit or miss. Some of the village wines, e.g., Fleurie or Saint-Amour, can, nevertheless, be very good. OTOH, Beaujolais nouveau is crap (I have had some pleasant ones, as a drink, but not as a real wine).

[ND66]

...This is not to say that Alsace and Beaujolais don't produce some interesting brews, but the Gamay grape of the latter tends to make for lighter wines .......

Indeed.

Maybe I forgot to mention the reason behind the choice…. .

While I do enjoy all king of good wines, in the past 10 years I do narrow my selection to a lighter wines due to my …………… heartburn.

Sad, but true. Bordeaux equals instant heartburn for me lately ….


.

[KRSESQ]

Can't even drink wine anymore. Even a small amount gives me a splitting migraine. I think I've developed a sensitivity to sulfites. One of these days I'll have to find some sulfite-free wine and test it.

Kevin

[Brian Ellis]

In the US, the prevalent headache causer seems to be red wine. In Europe, it seems to be white wine!!!! I don't think sulfites are causal in most cases. Many fruit drinks contain sulfites as well, and these don't seem to cause problems. I'm not saying that an individual may not have an idiosyncratic reaction to sulfites. I believe a much more likely cause is the presence of small quantities of aldehydes, generated by the fermentation process. Aldehydes are a known cause of headaches in many people. As a good wine ages in the bottle, the aldehyde level drops: have you tried a good 20-year old wine that has been correctly cellared?

[Lizzard[MPE]]

Beaujolais/ I havent had many french wines.