Wednesday 21 November 2012

In Defence of Gaillac wine

At the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest I must come to the defence of our local Gaillac wines. As in any wine growing area there are some stinkers, but there are also some gems. (Bordeaux has it's stinkers as well; the difference being that theirs tend to be more expensive than those from Gaillac.)
Just because the grape varieties are different from those used in Bordeaux, Cahors and for that matter the Rhone valley does not imply inferiority. In fact the principle grape varieties grown in Gaillac have stood the test of time since many go back to the Romans. If kept and aged properly they stand up to the wines from any of the other regions. If one looks for those red Gaillacs that have been aged in oak barrels as have most drinkable Bordeaux they stand up very well indeed.
No disrespect intended, but your Doctor doesn't know what he's talking about Val. My thoroughly non thorough search on Google tells me that there's nothing to choose between the acidity of Bordeaux vs Gaillac. St Emilion is lovely wine at its best so more power to your elbow so to speak.
I will end this little tirade by mentioning a recent tasting. There was a whole bus load of FiFi ladies and their husbands who went to Linda & my favourite Gaillac winery after a recent lunch in Albi. They bought many many cases of both the white and the red. There was no duress just good wine! 
As for Nouveau or Primeur I say a plague on both of them.
David Hatfield
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Sue Carter says



Sue also says perhaps TAG needs a label for Vineyard Reviews
Val says
How about label  Food, Wine and Vineyard Reviews.