Ah, wine from France. Aspirational, but can be intimidating. But now, American Stephanie Rivin has moved to France to help bring the traditions in an approachable way to Americans with French Blue. I was happy to be hosted to experience it! The label and clear drawing, the design — it’s all created to make things understandable and less mysterious.
So, my neighbor friend Carroll helped me with our guided wine tasting — she knows her stuff!
Stephanie is in the Bordeaux region of France. She started with rose’ wine. I noticed white stone fruit, not sugary. It’s steel finished, like a white wine. Stephanie describes her rose’ as having strawberry, tang, citrus: a good pairing with BBQ chicken, veggies.
Their Sauvignon Blanc has a touch of minerality, not acid. There are notes of citrus, grapefruit, gooseberry, passionfruit. baking spice. Stephanie suggests the classic pairing of whitefish, lemon salmon treatments.
The Bordeaux has cherry, cocoa, wood spice notes, along with plum, dark cherry, vanilla spice and blackberries.
Their sparkling wine is “Cremant de Bordeaux”. It retains its rich wine flavors and has natural carbonation. It’s fresher and fruitier, strawberry-like. It has fine bubbles.
They will be producing more wines, including dessert wines, in the future.
Price points range from $15-25.
Luxe & Down-Home Cuisine/Culture/Travel/Style 