Morgon and Ventoux

It sounds like a solicitors or estate agents doesn't it - hee hee. In fact it was out latest online tasting with friends. 

Both wines were from Lidl as part of their French Wine Tour. Our first wine was a Ventoux, an area and wine Hubby and I know well however this was a new experience as it was Ventoux Blanc. 

We have tried and enjoyed many white Cotes du Rhone wines and as expected this was a lovely pale honey colour in the glass. It was hard to pinpoint the exact grapes used in this blend but white Grenache was present with its appley pear notes, maybe a touch of Clairette giving a white peach flavour and possibly Rousanne's delicacy. 

I really enjoyed this wine, it wasn't as dry as a Sauvignon Blanc yet had a lovely crispness. It had tropical notes but not overpowering, all in all a very enjoyable wine with a good body and medium length to its finish. 

It did make me think of our trip up Mont Ventoux, in the car, but I have evidence to show we did reach the Summit! 

Our second wine was Morgon, made from Gamay and not to everyone's taste. It is the grape used to make Beaujolais. We tried a little experiment with this wine trying it chilled and at room temperature. Many people chill their reds especially in hot weather and in hot climate countries as no-one wants to drink warm wine.

However I have found through tasting chilled and decanted wines that often the reduction of temperature also reduces the flavours and tannins ... the latter I'm quite happy to be softened. 

And so we decanted some of our Morgon and popped it in the fridge whilst leaving the remaining bottle at room temperature. 

I will say 24 was slightly high but it did drop to around 20 as evening fell. Hubby and I had a glass of each at the same time, we both found the chilled wine had less nose and less fruit, a bit thin in taste. The room temperature wine had much more fruit and slight tannins with a weightier and longer finish. It was interesting to see our glasses with the room temperature wine were emptied first.

However, and here's the thing, neither of us are particularly keen on Gamay. We don't dislike it, there are other grapes that we certainly do dislike, but it isn't a wine we would often select from the shelf. 

We have however enjoyed a very good Gamay, Duc de Belmont available at Majestic, one we would add to our order when it's available as it is not often on the shelf. 

We had a great tasting night, another hopefully soon, maybe next time from Aldi. I'm thinking a New World wine especially if there's a good selection of new vintages but we'll see what the shelves hold.