Clos des Briords, Moueix, Chave, Hours – French wines under $20
Here’s a trio of French reds under $20 (plus a bonus) for your weekend pleasure.
Domaine de la Pepiere, Clos de Briords, 2007 (about $16, find this wine)
Over the past few years, I’ve alternated my Muscadet attention between Luneau Papin and Marc Ollivier of Domaine de la Pepiere. While both are terrific values and great wines, I’d ultimately have to side with Pepiere. And if anything pushed me over the edge, it’s this superb bottling of 2007 Clos de Briords. I poured it for my NYU class and it won plaudits from people who had never even had a Muscadet. It’s a little richer and fuller than the normal bottling from Pepiere but still has that great minerally verve with a touch of briney character that goes so well with seafood. I bet this one is built to last too.
Moueix, Merlot encore, 2005 (about $13, find this wine)
Most straight-up Merlot under $20 has about as much appeal as Muzak. But if there’s anyone who could bring an interesting, value Merlot to the market, it’s Christian Moueix who, among other wines in his portfolio, presides over the acclaimed and supremely expensive Chateau Petrus. If I could only find my blasted tasting notes for you I could have something more specific to say but the wine, as I recall, had some nice dark fruit character with some underlying minerality and acidity that are so lacking in lower-priced (and, too often, higher priced) versions of the grape from the New World. Moueix buys from a few dozen growers, mostly from St. Emilion and the farther flung appellations of the Cotes de Castillon. If they could pour this at art gallery openings, sales might rise!
JL Chave, Mon Coeur, Cotes du Rhone, 2006. (about $19; find this wine)
I suppose I could have recommended this “mon coeur” for Valentine’s Day but it’s much more, um, original to recommend it on March 13! A fuller bodied red from a top producer in the Northern Rhone, it is plush with dark fruits and dried herbs. Good for days when March is coming in like a lion but you are eating lamb.
Charles Hours, Clos Uroulat, Jurancon, 2006 (about $35; find this wine)
Aha! This wine is not really under $20. But my friend Mike and I went in on this one as our contribution to a recent wine dinner where we weren’t supposed to bring anything. So that made my contribution under $20. I was happy to take some credit since the wine was widely praised among the many hard-core wine geeks. Made from Petit Manseng (how many times can you trot that out?), the wine has wonderful aromas of white flowers and golden apples and honey; it’s rich but with wonderful texture as well as acidity so it really feels light and refreshing as opposed to a thicker Sauternes. A great way to finish a meal. Find a friend and make it under $20 for you.
On March 14th, 2009 at 9:05 am ,gary wrote:
Nice selection. The wines from Jurancon are little known, interesting, and a terrific value.
Can’t believe the Moueix Merlot is now up to $13/bottle. Just 2-3 years ago I used to buy this for $8-9. At the current price I’ve had much better in the $11-15 range. I don’t think it represents the “value” that it used to.
On March 14th, 2009 at 11:25 am ,Arthur wrote:
The Clos de Briords is one of my perennial favorites as well!
On March 15th, 2009 at 6:49 pm ,www.mrwino.co.uk wrote:
$13 dollar a bottle doesn’t reflect the value of the wine its a little over priced for me.
On March 18th, 2009 at 10:04 am ,Marcus wrote:
I just had the 2005 Merlot from Moueix and it’s an especially strong value in the 05 vintage. A brilliant wine with nice cocoa notes. Tyler’s right when he says it does something that very few Merlots do (at any price). That something — acidity — is most appreciated when enjoyed with food and I really cannot think of a finer wine to take to dinner that’s cheaper.
On April 8th, 2009 at 8:18 am ,A 100 point moment - wine in tropics edition | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[…] Clos de Briords, 2007 (about $15; find this wine), a superb wine in its own right that I’ve mentioned before. Throw in a sunset, 80 degrees, grilled fish, family and you really have a perfect wine moment. I […]