Dr Vino's wine blog

As the dollar falls further, wine importers have to dig deeper for values from the eurozone. For some consumers, that means: goodbye Burgundy, hello…Gascony?

At a media event last week, I tasted the excellent value white wines from Tariquet (priced $8 – $15) that well-known francophile Bobby Kacher is now importing. On the whole, they are rare steals in a world of more expensive wines. When I asked him how he found such good values, Kacher told me “We’re old. Money isn’t everything.” If he weren’t running his business as charity for frugal enophiles, I’d have said that he must be a magician to find values today–and he’d probably pair Sauvignon Blanc with the rabbit he pulled out of his metaphorical hat.

Look for the “Classic,” the Sauvignon Blanc and the Côté Tariquet, a late-ish harvest wine. Yves Grassa, the head of Tariquet (and Domaine de Pouy, another Kacher value) cut yields, and harvests them directly into mobile cooling units so that he doesn’t need to add sulfur to prevent fermentation from starting in the vineyard.

In a celebration of all things Gascon (complete with grumbling about the rugby), Ariane Daugin of D’Artagnan was there and we sampled some of the company’s fine meats. Fortunately I brought my Rapid Review (TM) software with and could generate these nuggets for you:

* The “Classic” wine is an unoaked blend of Ugni Blanc and Colombard, two grapes grown in abundance in the region for distillation into Armagnac. The resulting wine has great freshness and purity and is a great throw-it-back kind of quaffer. And at $8 a bottle, you can do that. With a low 10.5% alcohol, it’s refreshingly different in that way too. (find this wine)

* The game terrine was excellent. Try with the “Classic,” or better yet, the fuller, richer Côté Tariquet, a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc harvested late to give great intensity. (find this wine; $15)

* Roast duck with ginger and Asian spice with the Sauvignon — whodathunk it would be a knock out pairing?!? The Sauvignon has great intensity without the dominant citrus notes of, say, a kiwi SB. (about $10; find this wine)

* Rabbit sausage with mustard sauce and pink cabbage — an excellent dish. I found the Chenin-Chardonnay to be a sort of neither-nor wine. (find this wine; $12)

* Farm-raised pheasant, roasted. Excellent flavor without being too gamey. Paired with the chardonnay that was a pretty good chardonnay for
$12 (only 25% sees new oak), but I didn’t like it as much as the above wines. (find this wine)

Sweet-ish wine 04 La Hitaire (not a Tariquet wine; find $18, 500ml)–Bobby recommended this as an aperitif wine, not dessert! Pair with terrine, smoked fish. Sounds like a pairing to try–at least once.