We’ve some wonderful summery wines this week, each one from France. Not deliberately so: it’s just that these six wines — from Alsace, Loire, Bordeaux and beyond — were easily the best in our tasting. And I reckon they show that France on song is pretty much unbeatable and (thanks here, I admit, to some very generous discounts) great value.
First, the 2015 Sauvignon de Touraine, Domaine Bellevue (1), a lemon-fresh, really rather tropical Sauvignon Blanc produced but a stone’s throw from the dreamiest of all Loire Valley châteaux: Chenonceau. Patrick Vauvy is the fourth generation of his family to make wine in Noyers-sur-Cher and his wines are noted for their elegance and exuberance. If the mineral-rich, south-facing vineyards were a few hundred metres further south-east, it would be classified as Sancerre and a heck of a lot pricier. £8.50 down from £9.49.
If there’s one region in France I love above all others, it’s Alsace.
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