Loire Valley Wine Tasting at Cafe Maxx

Tuesday, June 28, 2016 - 06:30 PM

This Event has been read: 1845 times.

A man dies too young if he leaves any wine in his cellar. (Simon had only two magnums of claret in his cellar when he died.)

André Simon


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We had to change the date on the Loire Valley wine tasting at Café Maxx moving it up a day as the back room just got busy on our regular Wednesday night schedule, so next weeks’ Loire Valley tasting will be on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday.

The Loire Valley is one of the best wine regions for Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc in the world.  They also make one of the best single varietal Cabernet Francs, very distinct wines and some of the best value Sparkling wines in all of France.

These tastings at the Cafe Maxx for $35 are the best value of any event that we do. You get to try 8 different wines at the same time, pre-poured so they have a chance to open up and so you can go back through the line-up to get a second and third look at everything. This is how you learn about wine and with master chef Oliver Saucy sending out a few small courses to accompany the wines; you get a taste of Cafe Maxx and an education in wine all at the same time, a great way to spend happy hour!  This is a pre-poured sit down tasting and is limited to 25 tasters, the fee for this tasting is $35 + gratuity + tax for reservations call 954-782-0606.


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Loire Valley Wine Tasting at Cafe Maxx
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
6:30 PM

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Chateau tour grise saumur 2004 “methode Traditionelle” brut non-dosé
Price: $26.25       Sale $23.10          Case $268

They make a lot of great sparkling wines in the Loire Valley and these are produced the same way as Champagne but they are usually not aged on the yeast for as long.

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Chateau Tour Grise Cabernet Franc Petillant “zero pointé” NV
Price: $21.75       Sale $19.14          Case $222

The Zero Pointe is a petillant (slightly sparkling, fizzy) wine made up of 80% chenin blanc and 20% chardonnay.  It is a touch red delicious apple and a touch racy citrus chenin grape.  It is juicy - makes you salivate and has great citrus acidity.

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Domaine des Aubuisieres Vouvray Brut
Price: $24.75       Sale $21.78          Case $253

This is 100% Chenin Blanc with 4.5g/l of sugar.  Beautiful aromatic delicacy. Elegant mouth without aggressiveness

 

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Domaine des Aubuisieres Vouvray “cuvee de silex” 2015
Price: $22.50       Sale $19.80          Case $230

The Cuvée du Silex 2014 is a wine of dry type «soft», or we find a beautiful aromatic expression of Chenin Blanc.

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Clement & Florian Berthier Pouilly Fume 2014
 Price: $27.00     Sale $23.76         Case $276

A crisp, fresh and creamy wine, it has grapefruit acidity and a firm sense of mineral structure. The wine is developing well, but to bring out its balance between fruit and texture, it needs until 2015 in bottle.  89/100 - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast, 01/08/2014

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Domaine Michel Girard Sancerre Blanc 2015
Price: $27.00       Sale $23.76          Case $276

Michel Girard owns 19 hectares of vines planted in the three different soil structures of Sancerre where the average age of vines is 15 years. The grapes are hand-picked and gently pressed, fermented at 18°C by indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats – all to preserve natural aromas, elegance and complexity.

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Domaine Michel Girard Sancerre Rouge 2014
Price: $30.00       Sale $26.40          Case $306

Sancerre Rouge is made from 100% Pinot Noir and these wines are usually on the savory side but have a similar minerality to those of Burgundy.

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Pascal Lambert Chinon “Les Terrasses” 2014
Price: $24.00       Sale $21.12          Case $245

Vignerons since 1987, Lambert converted their property to organic in the early 2000s and certified organic by Ecocert in 2005, Beatrice and Pascal decided this was not enough. They moved into Biodynamics and, like many of their neighbors in the Loire, follow the dogma of Nicolas Joly. They use plant foliage between rows and add no sulfur to their wines. Les Terraces, 100% Cabernet Franc, displays a wild musky nose, dense fruit, and the terroir of calcareous clay atop the region's famous tuffeau.

 

This is a pre-poured sit down tasting and is limited to 25 tasters, the fee for this tasting is $35 + gratuity + tax for reservations call 954-782-0606.


A bit about Sancerre:

The area around Sancerre was likely first cultivated by the Romans, around the 1st century AD.   The foundations of two different Roman bridges across the Loire can be observed at the river village of St-Satur, the port for Sancerre, marking its ancient position along a major Roman trade route.

The chalk hill outcrop was not only a distinctive landmark known in Roman times but it also fit the profile of the type of areas that was usually the first to be cultivated because it was near an important town and had easy access to a navigatable river.  And of course most importantly, the steep sloping hills could provide the grapes with enough direct sunlight and heat to fully ripen while also allowing cold air to flow off the slope and collect in the valleys below.

The region was historically linked to the Dukes of Burgundy, which may explain the introduction of Pinot noir vines to this area. Sancerre's position as an administrative center, and the large nearby cities of Orléans and Bourges (which was the capital of the powerful Duke of Berry) ensured healthy local markets for the Pinot Noir and Gamay wines traditional in the area.

Demand for Sancerre increased even more with the coming of the railway from Paris.  In the late 19th century the phylloxera epidemic devastated the Sancerre region wiping out most of the region's vines. Although some Pinot noir vines remained almost all of the Gamay was lost.  These old Gamay vineyards were replanted with Sauvignon Blanc, mostly because it grafted better onto the American rootstocks. 

After the Second World War, Sancerre's wines gained quite a reputation in the Paris bistro scene.  Sancerre became known as an easy drinking white wine, the equivalent to Beaujolais.  In the late 1970s and 1980s, a wave of new quality consciousness producers aided the reputation of Sancerre as an elegant and food friendly white wine and thus Sancerre has became very popular with the world's top restaurants.

Most vineyards around the town of Sancerre are on south facing slopes at altitudes between 655-1,310 feet (200–400 meters). The soils can be roughly classified into three categories.

1)  The far western reaches heading towards Menetou-Salon have "white" soils with clay and limestone. Around the village of Chavignol (considered a cru of Sancerre), the soil also includes some Kimmeridgian marl. Wines from these western reaches tend to have more body and power in their flavor profile.

2)  Heading closer to the city of Sancerre the soil picks up more gravel mixed with the limestone and tends to produce more light bodied wines with delicate perfumes.

3)  The third type of soil is found around the city of Sancerre itself which includes deposits of flint (aka silex) which adds a distinctive mineral component to the wines. These Sancerre tend to be more heavily perfumed and are considered to have the longest aging potential of all the Sancerres.