*Bottle #16: Domaine d'Orfeuilles 2004 Vouvray Silex
*Price: $19
*Running Tab: $212
I decided to play this little diddy because I had never heard of such a thing, completely misunderstood French wine and am still uncertain on how to read this wine's label.
Dream Trip #2: France. We'll go over fast facts here because I'm already wandering around lost.
Domaine d'Orfeuilles: The wine's producer.
Vouvray: The French appellation, in the Loire Valley region.
Silex: The selection of the grape.
Vouvray is a white wine made from the Chenin Blanc grape which I had never had before and was eager to try. Chenin Blanc I am willing to give a second chance but I don't believe I will be attempting this label's Vouvray anytime soon again.
The very weak, lemon juice color - although quite radiant - put off a medium-intensity level aroma of fresh cut grass, green peppers, a bit of melon, some almond and an overwhelming mineral sensation I came to find out was flint. Of course, there's flint in this wine! Who's able to pick out that stone, honestly?
The Loire Valley seems to have a plush supply of flint in their soils which results in a "flinty" flavor characteristic presumed to be a famous delicacy... My taste buds severely disagreed. Tomato, tomato (that doesn't have the same effect when you're just typing it...).
My taste buds did find medium acidity, a dry and crisp wine that left my mouth watering but not because I wanted more. It was definitely from an excess of alcohol (not that the overall percentage of 13% was too much, it just lacked balance) and was borderline sour. However, I was able to search for fruits with success - lime, lemon, apricot and fairly plain and simple. And flint. I wasn't too impressed.
Maybe this 2004 was too young - this wine is said to be best when aged 5-25 years and I was only 4 into its development.
Don't take this the wrong way - I am far from shunning one of my first attempts at French wine. I've had many brilliant wines from France that are to die for. This was not one of them.
Score: 3.5.
4 comments:
Lloyd: I'll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.
Harry: Oh, I don't know, Lloyd. The French are assholes.
So well said. Appreciate it.
Good blog Erin, totally informative. I actually saw a wine like this in a Hungro wineshop and almost bought it- glad I didn't!
Well, the flinty-ness of Vouvray wines does take some getting used to. You can pick out that stone - it takes a little like gunpowder - so just think back to the last time you were loading shells. Though, from your photos, I'm guessing you guys don't do a lot of hunting. :)
Before you give up on the Vintage, try a 2003 "Tries de Novembre." It's a sweet wine. Crazy good.
I actually went to the Loire Valley last month and visited Domaine d’Orfeuilles vineyard because I like these so much.
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