C’est magnifique! Loire meets Hinsdale!

If you want to drink wine like the French, then the secret lies in Loire.

Though the country’s third largest wine region, the wine from this area often doesn’t travel beyond Paris. The French treasure this region and the surprising diversity its food-friendly wine offers. From hearty Cabs to citrusy Sauvignon Blanc, this region is able to produce a broad spectrum of notable wines that are undoubtedly France’s best-kept secrets. This month, however, the secret is out. Here in the Inspired Wine Club, both May selections hail from Loire, showcasing how it can produce whites just as wonderfully as reds.

So, cue the Parisian accordion player, shake out your checkered tablecloth and set your bistro table for two. These wines are ready to accompany your finest fare and seem to proclaim, “Bon Appetit!”

2009 Foucher-Lebrun Chais St. Laurent Chinon Vigne en Veron

Made from 100 percent Cabernet Franc, this is a supple red wine with soft tannins and lovely fruit. Grapes come from old vines that are 45 to 50 years old.  Using a combination of barrel and steel-tank aging, the winemaker has created a gorgeously balanced wine. It is bright, fresh and aromatic – the kind of red wine that is as perfect with your favorite roast chicken or steak au poivre as it is with a bit of foie gras.  A wine that sets off any occasion, actually.

2009
 Foucher-Lebrun ‘Le Mont’ Sancerre

As the weather heats up, this is a perfect foil to that heat.  Not encumbered with residual sugar, this 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc has refreshing minerality. Like most Sancerre’s, it is citrusy with clear notes of lemon and lime, and it’s classic flinty accents give the wine depth and a firm finish. Again, this is a wonderfully food-friendly wine that pairs so nicely with seafood.  Likely it longs to accompany, a well-garnished plate of trout à la Meuniere or poisson en papillote.

 

Surf and Turf: New Italian Varietals for Spring

It is really all about the spoils of travel – not necessarily our own travels, but those of others who thoughtfully return with souvenirs that either make us feel as though we have been there alongside our dear friends or are so energized we must venture there ourselves. In the case of every Hinsdale Inspired Wine Club member, that wandering friend bearing souvenirs is Sean Chaudhry. He goes to Argentina and returns with new friends, great wines and extravagant wine tastings. In Washington State, it’s more of the same. So, when he recently went to Italy, you’d think we might be tired of his stories, his wines and his “discoveries.” But the truth is we never tire of them. He dines with a winemaker in Venice who introduces him to a playful white wine that comes from the Italian coast along the Adriatic Sea that seems destined for a terrace tabletop overlooking budding daffodils. He goes to the edge of the Italian Alps and discovers an unusual medium-bodied red wine, perfect for the fresh birdsongs of spring. So, we can picture him there, laughing, sipping, discovering, and thankfully it leads to an impressive pair of wines for the April wine club. Two wines you most likely have never experienced transport us to Italy’s surf and turf, awakening our senses to new experiences that feel like their own special passport.

2009 Marchetti Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Marche, Italy

You’ve had Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and many other white wines, but have you ever had Verdicchio? Here is a 100 percent Verdicchio wine that screams spring. From the Marche region, next to Umbria, this particular Verdicchio comes from just outside Ancona and near the Adriatic. The varietal gets its “verde” part of its name from the slight green or yellow color these wines tend to display. The nose is lime zest and cold, wet river stone. The taste is refreshingly citrus with playful acidity and complex minerality that are ubiquitous to this varietal. Don’t look for oakiness because there is no barrel aging here. Instead, this is a gorgeous, crisp wine with a long, mouth-coating finish that is perfect for the lighter foods that come with spring.

2007 Poderi Elia Dolcetto D’Alba

Welcome to La Dolce Vita with this incredibly silky smooth, medium-bodied red wine from northern Italy. Again, here is an unusual varietal that many will never have tasted, and what a wonderful introduction! Winemaker Federico Stella has taken this black wine grape, barrel aged it and produced a very clean wine full of bright red fruits, rhubarb and a hint of sweet cigar smokiness. The nose brings forth both jammy and mineral aromas. The low acid level and “cashmere” tannins of this wine have made it a Piedmont everyday affair that is most often served chilled. It accompanies Mediterranean cuisine perfectly, making it a natural match for grilled meats and vegetables.

 

Thumbs Up for Wines from Down Under

When one thinks of Australia, it is too easy to recall kangaroos, koalas, Crocodile Dundee and even a Bloomin Onion from The Outback Steakhouse. However, nestled quite nearby the real and very rustic Outback is a spectacular wine region whose gravely, well-draining soil and cooler weather make for robust reds and thrilling whites – clearly an indication that the Aussies know how to tame their Wild West. This month, Inspired Wine Club members’ senses get a trip to the Outback with two wines from a notable down-under winemaker, Plantagenet.

2008 Omrah Pinot Noir

Click your ruby slippers together for this vibrant ruby-colored wine that has all the luscious, earthy pinot spice you long for. A smoky aroma introduces its everpresent kirschness, but alongside other red fruits (strawberry, raspberry, currants).  Look for smooth undertones of vanilla, chocolate and even cinnamon as a result of new French oak barrel aging. This is a smooth, even silky wine, but with a full-bodied Australian backbone. Polished tannins and tempered acidity make for a wine that is the perfect sidekick to your favorite steak and braised portabellas.

2009 Plantagenet Great Southern Riesling

Want to sample a bit of the “up and coming?” Then try the clean, crisp taste of a Southern Australian Riesling. Plantagenet serves up a premium quality Riesling with this gorgeous straw-colored specimen. Employing cool processing temperatures and minimal exposure to oxygen, the winemakers are able to preserve fruit character and minimize premature aging. The result is a youthful wine with lively citrus aromas that recall not only the fruit, but its zest, the blossoms and the slatey soil upon which it grows. This crisp, exciting wine joins characteristic old world Riesling flavor with new world freshness that is purported to develop toasty, honeyed characteristics so it can be enjoyed over the next 10-20 years. Taste it at its best alongside your “shrimps on the barby.”

 

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