French flair to discover from Bordeaux, Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone and the Languedoc

A Bordeaux cellared for the past 10 years, a stunning Beaujolais and two shiraz and grenache blends from the sunny south round out our strongest affordable French wine offer.

Vive le vin rouge - four top-shelf French reds feature in this week’s wine club offer.

Our wine connections in Europe have been poking around France for decades, hunting just off the beaten track for high-quality reds without the top-shelf price tags.

This is The Australian Wine Club’s third “affordable French” offer since I began writing this “deal of the week” column almost a year ago, and I’d have to say this is our strongest line-up.

Leading the pack is a 2011 Bordeaux, which hails from the Haut-Medoc appellation, within walking distance of legendary First Growth Chateau Lafite and Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac.

Our merlot-cabernet blend was produced by Chateau Ramage La Batisse, which lies just outside the world-famous Pauillac appellation and produces wonderful wines bursting with those distinctive Bordeaux aromas of cassis and cedarwood. It’s excellent value at its normal price of $55 but we’re being far more generous today.

Another wine in our dozen, a Beaujolais, will change your perception of Beaujolais. This wine isn’t your typical light and bright gamay. It’s a cracking example of a new wave of Beaujolais exciting French sommeliers. Deep, complex and soft.

Our two shiraz and grenache blends – one from the southern Rhone, the other from Languedoc on the Mediterranean coast – offer contrasting drinking experiences that instantly transport your senses to the rustic countryside of a wine world far away.

“Enjoying these wines is about discovery,’’ says Mark Hoddy, winemaker and global wine buyer based in southern France for Laithwaites, our wine club partner. “If you love Australian shiraz from places like McLaren Vale, you should enjoy these shiraz blends, full of complexity, from places in southern France like Languedoc.”

As another of our winemaking colleagues in Bordeaux, Jean-Marc Sauboua, likes to say: “People think French wine is good but very expensive. That doesn’t have to be the case if you know where to look.”

So look below for four beauties, ready for drinking right now, without leaving home.

Maison Dominique Piron Fleurie 2020

This is the sort of top-notch Beaujolais that is redefining this region’s wine status. The depth of plush fruit flavours, wrapped in a silky smooth embrace, surprised me. Beaujolais’ gamay-based wines are often light, summertime wines but this is a more serious, mid-weighted wine. Fresh cherry, blackberry and plum aromas flow from the glass delivering a spectrum of juicy flavours supported by soft, rounded tannins. Crafted by Dominique Piron, a 14th-generation winemaker whose estate was founded during the reign of Louis XIII in the appellation of Fleurie. The wines of Fleurie are considered among the prettiest and most feminine of the Beaujolais crus. Extremely versatile: try roasted pork with apple and chestnuts or spice-crusted salmon to add to the occasion. 14% alc. RRP $35 a bottle. SPECIALS $29.75 a bottle in any dozen; $26.99 in French dozen.

Chateau Ramage La Batisse 2011

Ten years after its birth, this elegant Bordeaux is ready to grace your table. Chateau Ramage La Batisse is located near world-renowned Pauillac in the Haut-Medoc appellation, on Bordeaux’s left bank, just a short stroll from the premier cru Chateaux Lafite and Mouton Rothschild. This is a merlot-cabernet blend, showing off the classic hallmarks of Haut-Medoc claret – cassis, licorice and cedar. There’s still plenty of fruit – plums and blackberry flavours in particular – shining through, balancing secondary characters like leather, spice and cedarwood. Initially, Bordeaux wines from the 2011 vintage were quite tannic but there’s a silkiness to this wine now which is utterly enjoyable. Three gold medals. An absolute bargain, particularly in the mixed French dozen. 13% alc. RRP $55 a bottle. SPECIALS $34.99 a bottle in any dozen; $26.99 in French dozen.

Chateau Gicon Cotes du Rhone 2019

 

Rich and powerful, this grenache-shiraz blend leaves little to the imagination. Dark fruit aromas lead the way, hinting at the ripe flavours of black cherries, raspberries and strawberries flowing through, with aniseed and sweet spicy notes emerging on the long finish. Chateau Gicon’s old vineyards in the southern Cotes du Rhone share the same “galets”, or pudding stones, that dot nearby Chateauneuf-du-Pape’s landscape. They act as heat conductors, bringing a beautiful ripeness to Chateau Gicon’s wines. Our wine club connections first discovered Chateau Gicon’s wines 40 years ago and are now renewing the acquaintance with this cracking 2019 blend. Decant for an hour while you barbecue lamb cutlets with garlic and oregano. 15% alc. RRP $32 a bottle. SPECIALS $27.20 a bottle in any dozen; $26.99 in French dozen.

Chateau de La Grange 2019

From Fitou, one of the top appellations of the Languedoc near the Mediterranean coast, comes this savoury syrah, grenache and mourvedre blend. The Dellova family began converting their 40-hectare estate to organic status years ago, gaining full status in 2012. Plum and cherry flavours mingle with herbaceous notes of garrigue (a French term describing the aromatics of southern France’s wild coastal herbs like thyme, lavender, rosemary and fennel). This is velvety, soft and balanced. Combined with a slow-cooked coq au vin, you’ll be dreaming of lost days in the French countryside. 14.5% alc. RRP $27 a bottle. SPECIALS $22.95 a bottle in any dozen; $26.99 in French dozen.

MIXED FRENCH DOZEN Three bottles of each for $26.99 a bottle.

Order online or telephone [phone] Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm AEST. Deals only available while stocks last. The Australian Wine Club is a commercial partnership with Laithwaite’s Wine People.