Recommendation: 1st Tasting: We’re holding our recommendation until we have the second bottle. 2nd Tasting (12/24/2013): Recommended as an excellent buy.
Winery/Producer: Francois Leclerc, France
Grape Variety: Pinot Noir
Geographic Origin: Burgundy, France
Vintage: 2010
Price: $38.00
Purchased From: The Caviste, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Pared With: 1st Tasting: Grilled Pork loin, baked potatoes, carrots and peas. 2nd Tasting: Honey baked ham, baked beans, “southern cooked” green beans and sweet potato/spinach salad.
Tasting:
He said: 1st Tasting: Clear ruby red color. Light fruit and damp earth bouquet. Nice cherry and red berry taste and VERY good flavorful long finish. I don’t know if it was the strong IPA beer we had prior to the meal or the BBQ sauce on the pork, but this wonderful Pinot Noir was not as good as we expected with the pork. As we finished the dinner and sipped the wine it just got better and better. And with that said, we will probably drink our second bottle with beef. (see our comment below)
2nd Tasting: WOW this was a totally different wine than the first tasting paired with the pork and BBQ sauce. In fact it was absolutely OUTSTANDING paired with the mild flavors of the ham…and the dinner was delicious with the wine. We served this to guest again, but this time everyone wanted the last drop from the bottle!!! So this wine easily gets the recommended rating from us…and actually it moves near the top of our Pinot Noir list.
She said: 1st Tasting: When you have company you want to have a good wine even if it is a casual dinner. This was the wine we chose for our guest but our guest was under impressed as I was. You can’t win them all. There was nothing wrong with the wine but it just did not hit the spot with this dinner. The bouquet was light but pleasant with a similar flavor. Light bodied, medium dry with subtle tannins and medium/long finish. Maybe the dinner was the problem because our guest and I liked the wine MUCH better as we sipped after dinner.
2nd Tasting: We really misjudged this wine on the first tasting and it was a good learning experience. Although the BBQ sauce we used on the pork for first tasting was not strong, there was a lot of acidity and strong garlic tastes in it, and it really killed the fine flavors and soft texture of this wine. The ham dinner was a perfect pairing and it was a very delicious wine. Even at $38.00 we would buy it again and that says a lot.
Comments: We were introduced to this wine at The Caviste/Noble’s Grille wine pairing dinner. At that time we had it with Burgundy beef tenderloin and it was OUTSTANDING, and the wine we liked best that evening.
Bar code: None Available.