The Olympics took us to France this time around. Pierre Fournier, Rutha Astravas, Maureen Murphy lead this one. We started off the evening with two whites. The favourite of this flight was the Macon-Villages Chardonnay. It was quite surprisingly un-Chardonnay! It had some lemon and herbaceous aromas on the nose which followed through on the palate along with nice acidity. It’s a nice refreshing wine. The Fat Bastard Chardonnay had notes of butter and roasted nuts. On the palate the buttery notes followed through, but there was too much acid and not enough fruit. It was described as “boring”.

The second flight featured wines from the Languedoc. The favourite of the flight was the Bad Dog Red with tons of earth/meat and candy notes and strawberry/raspberry fruit. On the palate it was like a “strawberry shortcake topped with vanilla”. It was medium-bodied, but had a rather short finish. A reasonable value at $11.30. The Chateau Canet was the second favourite. This rather earthy wine had aromas of smoke, cocoa, and cigar box on nose. The flavours evolved throughout the flight. The Rasteau was grapey and earthy with a bit of stemminess. On the palate, the grapey, earthy, and stemmy aromas were apparent. It had good acidity and tannins and a nice long finish.

Flight three was probably the favourite of the evening—Rhône wines! The Guigal was the favourite with earthy notes, mint, black fruit, and slightly medicinal aromas on nose. Smooth and velvety on the palate, it had black fruit, mint, earth, great tannins, and nice balance. The Chapoutier was also enjoyed by many—pencil shavings, mushrooms, earth, and pepper on the nose; red/black fruit, pepper, some dill pickle, and nice tannins on the palate. The Rasteau was grapey with a little raspberry and earth following through on the palate with some tobacco. It was rather astringent though, with a short finish.

The last flight, Shiraz, was served with lamb. The favourite of the flight was the Lou Black—a good value at $11.95. It had cassis, a little coconut, chocolate, raspberry, and a little greenness on nose. The cassis, earthiness, and green notes followed through on the palate. Overall, it was a rather subtle and very pleasant wine. It went well with the lamb as well as the onion focaccia. The Fat Bastard Shiraz was fairly well received too—a little closed initially, aromas of green tea and spice (nutmeg and pepper) eventually showed up. On the palate, there was a little of that green tea, some sour cherry, black fruit, high acidity, and lots of tannin. It had a long finish. It seemed to go well with everything—the lamb, the onion focaccia, and the spiced olives. The Que Sera Syrah Shiraz (!) was very smoky (burnt wood, tobacco) on the nose. The smoky notes followed through on the palate. Several tasters thought that it would do well with acidic foods, even olives.

Overall, a very interesting evening! Bring on the next Olympics of Wine!!

Macon-Villages, 2003, Bouchard Aîné et Fils (Chardonnay) 350884 $12.95

Fat Bastard, Thierry et Guy, 2003, Marnier-Lapostolle (Chardonnay) 563130 $14.95

Terra Sana, Lurton, 2001, Vin de Pays d’Oc 320580 $12.95

Bad Dog Red, 2003, Vin de Pays d’Oc (Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon) 597302 $11.30

Chateau Canet, 2001, Minervois (Carignan, Mourvèdre, Syrah) 320598 $12.95

Réserve Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau, Frères Pérrin, 2001, Rhône (Grenache, Syrah,

Mourvèdre) 363457 $13.95

Côtes du Rhône Villages, 2003, Chapoutier, Rhône (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) 321539 $16.95

Côtes du Rhône Villages, 2001, E. Guigal, Rhône (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) 259721 $17.10

Shiraz, Fat Bastard, 2003, Vin de Pays d’Oc 563122 $14.95

Que Sera Syrah, Shiraz, Paul Mas, 2004, Vin de Pays d’Oc 597336 $12.95

Shiraz, Lou Black, 2001, Vin de Pays d’Oc 597310 $11.95