Paul Buisse Saumur Champigny Rouge 2007


While travelling through France, one of the biggest task on my mind was to taste some wines that I would normally not have the opportunity to taste back in Singapore. Having a rather tight budget also did allow me to be a litte bit more exploratory and forgiving in my choice, so in a nice little wine shop, I did snag a bargain wine from the Loire Valley for €3.75 for a half bottle of red! While the Loire valley is more famous for their smoky whites from the Chenin & Muscadets, they make very decent red wines from the Cabernet Francs & in some districts blended with its sister Cabernet Sauvignon.



Saumur Champigny is a separate Appellation east of Saumur. Established in the 1950s together with Saumur, this district is known for making drinkable & value reds from the Cabernet Franc & Sauvignon and to a lesser extent Pineau d'Aunis.

TASTING NOTES

APPEARANCE
A dark ruby red with clear rims & a deep core. Tears are surprisingly obvious with a thick syrup texture. Very youthful looking.

NOSE
A strong redcurrant & berry perfume with pretty prominent portpourri of dried thyme, fresh cinnemon & dried wood. Very interesting. There are hints of subtle minerals...wet granite & limestone do start to appear after some swirling.

PALATE
Medium bodied with sweet red berries dominanting the flavor. Surprisingly well behaved tannins for a young wine. Relatively little structure to talk about, but it does finish off nicely with a decent cherry tannin.

CONCLUSION
This wine was made ready to drink and perhaps we should listen to it, the light tannin structure leaves little room for bottle aging and perhaps will lose its bite after 2-3 years. But its a wonderful simple wine to appreciate with chicken or with old cheese.

Thoughts about Europe: German Wine & Cuisines.

I've been really absent from writing for some time. Well, not that I've been busy, but recently, I just concluded an annual pilgrim trip to Europe...YES FRANCE, GERMANY & THE SCANDINAVIAS! Every year, I do try to make it a point to head down there to have a taste of the new vintages and reacquaint myself with my suppliers there. This trip was no difference.

This year, I did stop by at Frankfurt and had such a wonderful time tasting delicious wines from the Rhine region & of course, having jugs & jugs of their famous "apfelwein", which is a refreshing apple cider either taken by itself or mixed with soda or lemon juice. The fact that it was way cheaper than water did persuade me to have a few more with every meal. (Thats me right there after a few glasses, notice the starry glaze!)

The fact about Germans is that yes, they do drink a lot and definitely they do EAT a lot and enjoy their foods. Unlike those portions served in Singapore, I could barely finish up most of my entrees of Sauerkrauts, Pork Knuckles & an array of wurst I can now only imagine in my gourmet wet dreams. Particularly interesting & tasty were the blood & liver wurst, which went beautifully with the apfelweins.


Not totally distracted by the cuisines, I did have the privilege of tasting of the family estate wineries such as Weingut Walter Metzler & Rollanderhof, both introducing their 2007 vintages.
I must say that I was very impressed with the beautiful acidity & varietal characters of the whites such as the Silvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling & some muller Thurgau's. The Rieslings especially were very fresh with grapefruit & green citrus flavors and their Ausleses honey dripped.
However, I was rather disappointed with the red wines like the Merlots, Cabernets , Portugiesers & Dornfelders which most of them unfortunately were flabby & hollow with some grassy feel, not unlike some of the cheaper Swiss wines I've tried. However, a saving grace was their dry Pinot Noirs (04's & 05's) which showed youthful vibrancy that will do justice to the winery perhaps 3-5 years down the road.
Thus, a simple advice for those planning to go to this beautiful country. Forget the water & diet. Beers, Food, Wines & Ciders are the way to live. Cheers.