South of France Wine Tasting at Cafe Maxx - The best value in France

“Like a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, I’m fine like wine when I start to rap”

Body Movin’ by Beastie Boys

Wines of Southern France Tasting at Café Maxx
Wednesday, February 17th
6:30pm

These Wednesday tastings are some of the best values of any event that we do anywhere.  We are pouring 8 wines from the South of France and Chef Oliver Saucy will be sending out a few small courses to accompany the tasting wines. The fee for this tasting is $35 + tax, for reservations call 954-782-0606.

2013 Michel Gassier Nostre Pais White
Price: $20      Sale: $17.59   Case: $211

Blend of 52% Grenache blanc, 22% Roussanne, 17% Viognier, 7% Clairette & 2% Bourboulenc. Complex nose of floral aromas and mineral notes with accents of fresh citrus fruit. Lively and fresh on the palate, flavors of white flowers, stone fruit and flint culminate with a soft finish.

2014 Chateau Pesquie Terrasses (AOC Ventoux)
Price: $16    Sale: $14.08  Case: $169

Ventoux is a diverse 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah. This deep ruby colored wine has an intense nose of or red berries and pepper. Round tannin and fresh acidity makes this an ideal bottle to pair with a variety of foods, from pizza and charcuterie to savory grilled and roasted meats.

2013 Chateau Puech-Haut (Coteaux du Languedoc)
Price: $20   Sale: $17.59  Case: $211

A blend of grenache and syrah, visionar owner Gerard Bru spares no expense in his quest for excellence. Located close to Pic Saint-Loup, in Saint-Drezery, Puech-Haut is near the far western border of the Rhone valley and benefits from both its proximity to the Mediterranean and the rugged, mountainous interior of France. The wines from Puech-Haut are rich and lush but also show the earthy and mineral character of the rocky clay-limestone soils of the region.

2012 Crocus Cahors L'Atelier 2012 (Cahors)
Price: $22.50  Sale: $19.80   Case: $238

100% Malbec. Black violet with amethyst glimmers on the edge. Bright and floral nose, with rose petals, huckleberry pie, juicy palate with raspberry and black cherry, finishing with a state-like minerality. Weighty and well-structured, with chewy tannins.

2014 Ollieux Romanis Corbieres Classique
Price: $18  Sale: $15.84  Case: $190

40% Carignan, 30%Grenache, 30% Syrah. The wine undergoes carbonic vinification. A delightful ruby red in colour. Notes of cassis, blueberries and spice on the nose. Complex peppery flavours of blackberries, vanilla and wild herbs. Very balanced finish. Try with roast beef, duck liver pate or artichoke hearts in a mornay sauce.

2009 Fin Amour (Maury)
Price: $46.50  Sale: $40.92   Case: $491

70% Grenache, 30% Carignan. From the Côtes Catalanes, on the border of Spain, this is a blend of 100 -year-old vines, the classic southern French varieties, but mostly Grenache, which creates a soft, amiable wine full of dark berries, with back notes of coffee. New oak is used and is well-integrated. A juicy, mouth-filling red.

2014 La Rectorie, Collioure
Price: $37.50  Sale: $33.00   Case: $396

Banyuls is just down the road from Collioure and, whereas one is more famous for red and one for white, they both share the same extraordinary beauty, with a luminous Mediterranean backdrop framing natural bays with steep sea-facing vineyards and balmy breezes.  Domaine de la Rectorie, run by the Parce family for over a century, has had the good sense to make wine in both appellations.Marc and Thierry Parcé inherited a family vineyard. Domaine de La Rectorie vinification are guided by the choice of vines: from thirty plots of exhibitions and different altitudes (0 to 400 m). "The age of vines, yield control, maintaining the original vines : with these simple ways that we can stay in line with the identity of the terroir." The vineyards clinging to steep slopes of the seaside around Banyuls and Collioure in the Roussillon.

2012  La Rectorie Banyuls "Therese Reig" - 5ooml
Price: $54  Sale: $47.52   Case: $5703

The vines, mainly Grenache and Carignan, average over 50 years-old.  Banyuls is a coastal village in Roussillon in southern France, just next door to Spain. The hillside vineyards overlooking the village are rocky, arid, and thoroughly baked by the hot sun during the summer. One is hard-pressed to imagine anything, other than weeds and herbs, capable of thriving there. The extreme labor required make both winemakers and vines not just hardy, but also determined, though the fruits of their labor make the effort well-justified. The Banyuls Rimage vin doux naturel is made by macerating whole bunches of grapes for a few days, fermentation is stopped by adding 7-10 % of neutral alcohol (96% abv) to the must. Maceration continues for two or three weeks before pressing, during which the alcohol extracts the flavor of the grapes. These wines are typical examples of Banyuls - they have great balance and youthfulness. The red fruit flavors marrry well with the full bodied nature of the wine and the smooth grenache tannins also mask the residual sugar, usually in excess in other sweet wines. This rich character gives them a rare "drinkability" much loved by gourmands. The wine goes very well with chocolate, Banyuls and Chocolate being a famous food and wine match. The tannins found in cocoa and those found in the Grenache grape are very similar! Other food matches are Gorgonzola, red fruit salad in Spring and fresh figs with plum purée in Autumn.