Les Paturons Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2009

Two muscadets I have tasted and I can almost copy/paste the description from the one I described yesterday, because the differences are minimal. This bottle I picked up at the E.LeClerc in France for €3,67 alcoholpercentage is 11,5%. So far the biggest differences. Light yellow in the glass, slightly aromatic. Aromas of apple, not the yellow one, not the green one, but right in between. Acidity is a bit higher but in this one the creaminess is also higher. It's slightly tingly on my gums, but again not mouthwatering. It certainly isn't chubby but not very suitable as an aperitive. It would probably do much better in combination with a light salade or a fresh, salty entree of fish and/or shellfish. This also goes for the muscadet I tasted yesterday.

Les Charmes Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2009

During my SWEN2 course I once was fooled by the name of a certain wine. I mistook the word "muscadet" for "muscat" which is an entirely different type of wine. Muscadet wines are very dry and muscat wines usually are sweet. So now I'm "punishing" myself by tasting two muscadet wines for learning purposes. This one I bought at the MITRA for €5,99 alcoholpercentage is 12%. The sole grape variety is "melon de Bourgogne", also known as plain "melon" or "muscadet". After the fermentation the most ripens "sur lie", its own dead yeast cells, before it is bottled. This should result in more freshness, because of less contact with oxygen. It's light yellow in the glass. Slightly aromatic, certainly no scent bomb. Aromas of lemon and light sweet yellow apples. The acidity is much lower than in my recollection, but it's far from being chubby. It's not really mouthwatering, my salivary glands remain inactive thus making this wine less suitable as an aperitive. Maybe I've kept it in my cellar for too long, but in my view this is a very neutral wine with no striking characteristics.

#CabernetDay: Domaine Gayda Figure Libre 2008

#CabernetDay. That's today. The second annual Cabernet Day, celebrated all over the world, 24 hrs long. It's also a Social Media event, so you can join through whichever type of Social Media you use, like Facebook or Twitter, by opening up a bottle of wine consisting of the grape variety cabernet and share your thoughts about that wine. This can be cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc or a blend of the two. Because I cannot wait until tonight, I will join the rest of Australia at this moment; it's 10 AM in the Netherlands. On my table there is a wine which I bought in France at Domaine Gayda. It set me back €14. It's the Figure Libre 2008, a blend of 89% cabernet franc and 11% cabernet sauvignon. Alcoholpercentage is 14,5%. Here's what I had to tweet about it.

#Lots of smoky oak in the nose. #The oakyness is deminishing by the minute, gladly! #Mmmm, this is very good! The first sip slithers into my mouth with a beautiful silkyness. #Hard to distinguish any fruit yet. Mostly smell and taste of pencil shavings. #Cherry, blackberry and some plum is now noticable. Some spicyness too. #The oak is converting slightly into vanilla flavour at this moment. #I'm now leaving it to rest for an hour. See how it will develop. #Back again. Let's find out if and/or how the wine has developed in the last hour. #Well, it hasn't. Still dominant pencil shavings, both in smell and taste. Cabernet franc characteristic. #Tannins are low, it's a bit burning, a bitterness towards the end. #It's nice and fresh, could be a bit more fruity, but good acidity and balance. #Twexit.