I'll hobnob this wine anyday!

From Dictionary.com: hobnob\HAHB-nahb\ , intransitive verb;
1.To associate familiarly

And this Pinot Noir presents itself with familiarity right from the start. With it's bright brick red colour and clean, black cherry, red fruit and cedar nose and onto a red fruit filled palate it's elegance and charm makes you want to be friends with this wine from the very first sip. It's tannins are strong enough to hold up to many foods but it is so well integrated into the wine that it has the potential for great gastronomic versatility. It went surprisingly well with my avocado, jalapeno and Monterrey jack omelet sandwich. It had a lot more fresh fruit than what I'd have generally expected from something coming out of southern France but I'm really happy about that. It also opens up to more really nice red fruits if given a few extra minutes. The only thing that was a little disappointing in this wine was the first part of the mouthfeel that was almost watery. The wine picked up near the middle and finished off very nicely but just that first moment when it hit the tongue lacked a bit of weight. With food however, or even after the first few sips, this feeling starts to fade and this wine becomes an easy drinking, Sunday afternoon pleasure wine.

Light, easy drinking, versatile, elegant and under $20 bucks. Definitely a wine to go on the do not forget about me list.

Southern France has been coming out with some really great stuff over the past little while, partly due to a huge market, in France and world wide, for French wines that are more than your basic table wines and partly due to lots of investments and improvements in the wine making of the area. This wine promotes itself as a Vin de Pays d'Oc which means that it's slightly above the most basic of French wines (the table wine) and is therefore allowed to mark down the grape varieties in the bottle. Pinot Noir in this case. This region encompasses a good chunk of southern France around the Mediterranean coast from just west of Marseille through to to the Spanish border. The grapes can essentially come from anywhere in this area and what probably happened with this wine is that someone bought a bunch of grapes or grape juice and bottled it under their name, so really as a consumer we don't know exactly where the grapes came from in this vast area. However the juice got in the bottle, something right was done and we ended up with a product that I'd most definitely recommend and drink again.

$17 at a BC Liquor Store near you and $19.35 at my store if you feel like coming to visit! Worth checking out for your next dinner party or your next regular ol' get together.

Loire Valley meets the Gamay Grape

Gamay is just one of those grapes that's hard not to like, unless you don't like simple, honest and straightforward. It's a kind and peaceful wine that in my mind is perfect for just about any occasion. I've tried Gamay wines from Ontario, BC and of course also it's native homeland in Beaujolais which is in the southern part of Burgundy in France. All of them have pleased me for their delightful character and charm, their fresh fruitiness and uncomplicated persona. They aren't wines that want to slap you in the face or screw you over, they just want to help you forget about how evil the world can be for a little while.

When I came across the Domaine Octavie 2008 Gamay from Touraine in the Loire Valley, I immediately knew I would have to try this wine. The Loire Valley in France in a part of the wine world that I've only recently started exploring. It has a variety a climates and as a result produces a whole range of red, white, rose, sweet and sparkling wines.

I wasn't fully aware until I started researching this bottle that Gamay was much of a grape in the Loire Valley, and while it's not one of the main grapes of the area, it's common enough to at least get a mention in the litterature for the area.
Domaine Octavie is part of Terra Vitis which encompasses vitners and growers from around France who are working together to promote sustainable viticultural practices. This movement towards environmentally concious grape growing practice is a trend that seems to be taking root more in the Loire Valley than anywhere else in France, although many other areas such as Burgundy are seeing a growing trend in this direction. I personally beleive that it does make a difference in the wine and this is part of the reason why I love the Loire Valley so much. Plus, I just like alot of the wines from here. What's also nice about the Loire is that Robert Parker never really liked wines from this area so the prices are still reasonable and the winemakers tend to stick to the ideas they have for their wines instead of trying to create wine specifically for the Parkerized market. Consumers therefore end up with unique, terroir driven wines. This alone is a great reason to explore the Loire Valley.

Now about this wine; 100% Gamay grapes, 12% abv, It has the typical fruit forwardness of Gamay with the distinctly cherry, almost sour, kind of underripe cherry flavour I associate with cooler climate Gamay's like Ontario or BC instead of the warmer Beaujolais ones. It has also some distinct leathery/earthy tones that add a nice rusticness to this wine, as well as some slight peppery notes. It's medium body and elegant, well balances with tannins that aren't harsh at all. Overall a very enjoyable, easy drinking red wine. I imagine it would go well with a cheese and cold cut platter.
Have already had this bottle twice and would definately get it again. Worth trying for the adventurous and the cautious wine drinkers alike!