Domaine Des Enfants Tabula Rasa 2012
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The love and energy invested in the care of their powerful and exceptional vines gives them peace and satisfaction. To witness how these frugal plants thrive and gain strength due to the care that fills them with pride, and is an enormous gratification. With the wineries' work they want to use their creativity in order to create something extraordinary, which not only gives them and other people pleasure, but also brings everybody closer together. Domaine des Enfants hopes that their wines will be able to present people with new ideas, imagination, and maybe even touch them on a deeper level.
The wines are the expression of our inner thriving for perfection and amelioration, with our aptitude for manual labor and for using the wineries' creativity. They are the fruits of our passion. They want to give people the opportunity to enjoy life, to indulge and to share this pleasure with others. Our wines would like to inspire conversations, not about them, but about life itself. The wine is their means to engage with other people, to share thoughts, awake emotions, and sometimes, take part in it.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
French wine is nearly synonymous with fine wine and all things epicurean, France has a culture of wine production and consumption that is deeply rooted in tradition. Many of the world’s most beloved grape varieties originated here, as did the concept of “terroir”—soil type, elevation, slope and mesoclimate combine to produce resulting wines that convey a sense of place. Accordingly, most French wine is labeled by geographical location, rather than grape variety. So a general understaning of which grapes correspond to which regions can be helpful in navigating all of the types of French wine. Some of the greatest wine regions in the world are here, including Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône and Champagne, but each part of the country has its own specialties and strengths.
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are the king and queen of Burgundy, producing elegant French red and white wines with great acidity, the finest examples of which can age for decades. The same two grapes, along with Pinot Meunier, are used to make Champagne.
Of comparable renown is Bordeaux, focused on bold, structured red blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc including sometimes a small amount of Petit Verdot or Malbec. The primary white varieties of Bordeaux are Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.
The northern Rhône Valley is responsible for single-varietal Syrah, while the south specializes in Grenache blends; Rhône's main white variety is Viognier.
Most of these grape varieties are planted throughout the country and beyond, extending their influence into other parts of Europe and New World appellations.