Wine tasting

We had a nice little group wine tasting run by our tour guide in our hotel. She explained to us that French wines are actually usually named after the region they were made instead of by the kind of grape used. If you know a lot about the terrain and what kind of grapes are grown where, they you can likely determine the type of grape, but a lot of the flavor is based on not just the type of grape but where it's grown because of differences in climate and soil.

The first wine we tried was a Reuilly which is actually a Chardonnay. But it didn't taste like any Chardonnay I've had from the US. The sweet, buttery, oakiness wasn't really there in this. It was thinner and more citrusy if I remember correctly.


The second wine was a Petit Chablis which I found to be more minerally.
The third wine was a rosé. This wine was light and didn't have any of the sugary sweetness the blush wines we find here have.

The fourth wine was a Santenay which I can't remember very well. I want to say this one was something I found to be quite tannic on the first sip. I think she said it was a pinot noir.

Next was Val Joamis, the only wine to have the type of grape printed on it. The French winemakers have caught on that Americans are hesitant to buy the wine unless they know what it is. This helps them sell more wine abroad. This one was tasty: I really like Syrah.

The sixth and last wine was a Madiran which I believe is a type of grape that we don't find in the US. She didn't think we'd be able to find this one at home. This was also super tasty.

I only had little sips of each of these. I don't think I'd be in very good shape after trying sample sized glasses of all six...