Winemaker Notes
This Pinot Noir is full of charm with a bright ruby color and a nose rich with aromas of red fruits such as raspberry, red currants and wild strawberry. On the palate, it is juicy and round with nice fruit, light tannins, and great elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Josephine Dubois Pinot Noir is juicy and pleasing on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of tangy red fruits, black fruits, and hints of spice. Serve it with roast game birds. (Tasted: January 10, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
Josephine Dubois is part of Les Grands Chais de France, a partnership of wine-growers in France with over 7400 acres of vineyard. Founded by Joseph Helfrich only in 1979, the company has grown with phenomenal speed, but it is more recently that they have evolved from négociant, bottler and distributor of huge quantities of wine, to substantial estate owner too, focused on Bordeaux. Indeed in the past decade they have acquired 15 properties in Bordeaux, including highly regarded left bank Crus Bourgeois, and some well know estates of the right bank, including St Emilion Grand Cru Classé Château Cantin, and Clos Beauregard in Pomerol. They have also acquired exclusive distribution rights for a number of other prominent and high quality properties.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A small category representing the wines that either fall outside of appellation lines or don’t subscribe to the law and traditions set forth by the French government within certain classified appellations, “Vin De France” is a catch-all that includes some of the most basic French wines as well as those of superior quality. The category includes large production, value-driven wines. It also includes some that were made with a great deal of creativity, diligence and talent by those who desire to make wine outside of governmental restrictions. These used to be called Vin de Table (table wine) but were renamed to compete with other European countries' wines of similar quality.