Domaine de La Vougeraie 2003 Gamay

Bottle #17: Domaine de La Vougeraie 2003 En Bollery Gamay 

Price: $18

Running Tab: $230

I'm not sure if it was my pathetic cry of desperation to forge into wine or my winning smile but somehow I convinced some crazy people into employing me at their wine bar. I'm ecstatic. 100+ wines by the glass - majority of them in extremely foreign languages with producers and winery names that trail on for days - and even more for retail that blow my mind for the prices these suckers can fly for. 

A handful or two of those wines are French and with Todd the Wine Guy training me at the shop n'bar by pouring miniscule tastes of wines for me to spit (boo), I've decided to extend my hypothetical stay in France. 

Let me tell you - Le systeme francais de vin semble raisonnable nul. That's a little Francais for you translating out to me still remaining completely confused by the entire French wine-ing system.

In a feeble attempt to understand more, I checked out what Burgundy can produce. And I chose a varietal the province is not typically known for (unintentionally - of course I had no idea!) - Gamay Noir, which is widely grown in Beaujolais.

The break down of this overly complex framework is as I see it like so: 

Domaine de La Vougeraie is a wine producer in Cote d'Or, which is a department in the Bourgogne region of Burgundy (which isn't a French province anymore but more of a celebrated wine area) in the country of France. En Bollery (the largest font title on the label) is merely the land plot. 

Holy details. Post-history lesson, I relished in this non-Burgundy Burgundy red wine. 

The bouquet from the Domaine de La Vougeraie was subtle yet with striking notes of oak, spice - nutmeg?, redcurrant and definite veggies like green bell peppers. A little earthy but nothing like that of a Pinot Noir. 

I was more sold on the palate of this wine - as I'm assuming that's how it should be. This bright, fruitful, ruby-colored wine had acidity that struck me at the core. It was solid but not forceful, giving the wine a bounce in its step. Like a Parisian romance song - the wine tasted as if it were in love...

The remainder of the wine was supple with light tannins and had a delightful finish - it didn't linger past its welcome but made a great first impression. Just what you'd expect from a French fling. 

Score: 9.