England Vs France in the Wine Rivels

This weekend England and France battle out century of war and political dispute. In a 80 mins game of rugby. We will see the French and English reenact the battles of: Agincourt, Trafalgar, Waterloo; I can not not think of a battles France won with my selective memory.

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So in light of this rugby game; which like most 6 nation games have more to do with historic rivalry than on current forum, we have a new 'Wine The Rivals'. It be unfair to put the hole of France wine production against England's s we put up a French region and as I wont England to do well I put up our best tipple, fizzy pop, but is seems that the frogs do fizzy pop as well in a place could Champagne. This puts England on the back leg as Champagne has 33,500 hectares of vineyards around 319 villages that are home to 5,000 growers who make their own wine and 14,000 growers who only sell grapes. Where there are only 362 registered vineyards comprising of 923 hectares in England and Wales.

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Don't write of the English just yet in 2007 the Theale Vineyard Sparkling Chardonnay 2003 beat off stiff competition from fine Champagnes and top sparkling wines to make it into the world’s Top Ten Sparkling Wine at the world’s only dedicated sparkling wine competition, French-based Effervescents du Monde (sparkling wines of the world). The Theale Vineyard it self is a 50 meters by 20miters vine yard in front of a massive warehouse office block on a industrial estate which is surrounded by the M4 motorway, the A4 and a busy train line. I know a lot about this as the office was my old office in fact I helped with the 08 vintage by doing a bit of pruning and I own the last bottle of the amazing 03. So English wine can hold there own.

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So today the challenger is from Champagne, France we have the Bredon Brut NV and the defending champ from West Sussex, England we have the South Ridge Cuvée Merret 2006.

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Top Trumps.
Price: Bredon £14.24 from Waitrose Vs South Ridge £15.99 from Laithwaites. Bredon wines.
Vintage: Bredon NV Vs South Ridge 2006. South Ridge wines.
Alcohol:Bredom 12% Vs South Ridge 12%. Draw.
Awards: Bredom Silver IWC Vs South Ridge Silver IWC, Draw.

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So it all square after the Top Trumps. Now let put them to the taste test. The Bredon Brut NV is a full flavored crisp wine but with a creamy richness with touches of fruit. What you would expect from the guys behind Piper & Charles Heidsieck. A cracker of a wine. A good party or reception tipple. The South Ridge Cuvée Merret 2006 has a fantastic ripe melon and honey taste to it with just a hint of creamy mousse to it. What can I say but it under prised!

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It a close one both are class wines I will have to give it to....... Well I am biased it is England with South Ridge Cuvée Merret 2006! Go out and buy a couple of bottle of both wines and see if you think I am right.

Its a New World in the Old World

France and it wine is tide down with traditional and bureaucracy. To achieve the Appellation Contrôlée (AC) for most region you have to follow the strict rules which govern them. It works and has dune for hundreds of years. Just look at a bottle of Bordeaux it can be the best tipple money can buy. It is like a tall hansom Frenchman in his tailor cut suit. Siting in a café in Paris sipping a glass of Burgundy reading Moliere. He a romantic man who is passionate but constrained with a classic knowledge. Now compare him with the new world wine I like to see them a a Californian surfer siting on the beach watching the sun going down over the sea whilst he played his guitar with his long blond lock flowing in the wind. A non-conventional romantic who take some thing as normal as the sea and adds a surfboard to make it fun and existing. But there is surfers in France as well.

Down in the South of France by the Med is the region of Languedoc Wikipedia tells me 'The traditional provinces of the kingdom of France had no official existence. A province was a territory set up by tradition and customs, and which people regarded as a unit, but provinces had no political organization.'. This might explain a lot about them as wine wine region. In the old day the grapes where used to for blending else where and the region would not even been seen on maps of French wine. Not any more since the battle of New Vs Old world has happened the French been looking for a way to show they can surf as well. Languedoc with is cheep land was bought up by some existing wine houses and makers with there experience of Bordeaux and Burgundy to Languedoc using the favorite grapes of the new world Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. They stop using the stick AC ans started using the vin de pays d'oc appellation which gave them the freedom to experiment with the wines. Using traditional French recipes with new world methods.

With clever PR and marketing it has gone strength to strength hitting the bars and restraints of Toulouse and Montpellier and with there air port our bars and restraints. Chancer are if you are in a bar and have a glass of red from France it be from Languedoc as it is now responsible for more than a third of France's total wine production that more than the enter of the USA can produce in the year.

Here at Grape-of-Joy we look at the mid price wine which taste good and Languedoc ticks all the boxers for us. Good price, good taste and wine witch make us fill fine the next day. There is plonk in Languedoc like most regions but that not the story of the region it is the most unappreciated wine region in the France.

My picks from Languedoc:

-Merlot Réserve de Villecours 2007 from the Sunday Times Wine Club at £5.99. I found this wine in a blind tasting which I said was a Chilean merlot from the great Chile wine region of Casablanca. It could be with its Bright cherry-red colour with ripe damson and plum flavors and a plummy peppery nose. It made by Benoît Blancheton who made the Clos de l'Oratoire who scored a 93 out 100 by the American wine critic Robert Parker (some would say is god I would say is no Hugh Johnson).

-Cremant De Limoux Cuvee St Laurent 2006 from the Wine Society at £9.95 it a fantastic fiz with a lovely golden colour, lemony white fruit with a strong toffee coming through, an incisive bite of freshly cut grapefruit with straw and apple touches to the flavor.

-Domaine de Félines Picpoul de Pinet 2007 from Waitros for £6.64 its a lovly simple white wine great with sea food and is a favorite of Rick Stein's it uses the 17th century grape, Picpoul witch gives it a distinctive lemony flavor, with a herb and a mineral edge. It has mineral and limy nose.

When I was looking for a photo to represent Languedoc I found miss Languedoc as it is the sexy wine region I fought she does it justice.