Jean-Francois Merieau J'ose Les Fines Bulles 2014
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Very much a celebration pre-dinner wine.
The winery is based on a rich history that stretches back for generations. It’s not unusual to see three generations in the winery at the same time. Much of the winery and tasting room is in a cave that was carved during the time of the Knights Templar (14th century). The “new” structure that houses many of the tanks was used by American soldiers during World War I and some left inscriptions on the walls.
The wines, however, are anything but old-fashioned. The Sauvignon Blanc bottlings benefit from the rich clay and limestone soil and are exotic and often rich with underlying brightness and acidity. The old vine Gamay and Cot are snappy with delicious, lingering fruit. The sparkling is hand-harvested, vintage Touraine with little dosage. It’s the real deal in Touraine.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Praised for its stately Renaissance-era chateaux, the picturesque Loire valley produces pleasant wines of just about every style. Just south of Paris, the appellation lies along the river of the same name and stretches from the Atlantic coast to the center of France.
The Loire can be divided into three main growing areas, from west to east: the Lower Loire, Middle Loire, and Upper/Central Loire. The Pay Nantais region of the Lower Loire—farthest west and closest to the Atlantic—has a maritime climate and focuses on the Melon de Bourgogne variety, which makes refreshing, crisp, aromatic whites.
The Middle Loire contains Anjou, Saumur and Touraine. In Anjou, Chenin Blanc produces some of, if not the most, outstanding dry and sweet wines with a sleek, mineral edge and characteristics of crisp apple, pear and honeysuckle. Cabernet Franc dominates red and rosé production here, supported often by Grolleau and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sparkling Crémant de Loire is a specialty of Saumur. Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are common in Touraine as well, along with Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay and Malbec (known locally as Côt).
The Upper Loire, with a warm, continental climate, is Sauvignon Blanc country, home to the world-renowned appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Pinot Noir and Gamay produce bright, easy-drinking red wines here.