I have been tasked with putting together a French wine basket for a fund-raising auction at my son's school. I know nothing about French wine, and would like some suggestions before I walk into the wine store blind. I can spend $250, either all on the wine or on wine and complimentary goodies if you have favorites of those to recommend as well.
Thanks for any help,
Katrina
It would help a lot if we had an idea at least what state you're in. Few wines are available everywhere. If you have a particular store in mind, and they have a website, even better.
See, this is why I need help :) I live in Salisbury, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore, where we don't have a large number of wine retailers. We have a shop called the Wine Rack and one called Cheers, but I don't think either one is on the web. If you can recommend good wines that might be easy to find, as opposed to the cream of the crop which might be impossible to get here, that will be a huge help.
My suggestion is to go to one of your local retailers and ask for a bottle of French red, white, rose (pink but not sweet) and Champagne. They should be able to direct you to what they have available and at approx $50 per bottle average you should be able to find some very nice French wines and have $50 left over for "goodies".....but not the cream of the crop which these days can set you back more than $500 a bottle! Most American expectaions of a French wine basket would include a red from either Bordeaux, Burgundy or the Rhone, a white from Burgundy, Alsace or The Loire Valley, a Rose from Provence (Tavel) and a Champagne from Champagne. Your local retailer will enjoy the business and if you tell them it's for a charity they just might give you a discount or throw in a bottle of something for a plug.
That is exactly what I needed to know, thank you so very much!
Katrina
Actually the best thing might just be for you to ..."walk into the wine store blind." Assuming the stores are not simply fly-by-night crooks they will have an interest in helping you find what you want, and they should know their stock and what is popular with the local people. Be prepared to give them a price range and number of bottles and let them choose: they will probably assemble a good basket of nice wines that they would be proud to show their name on at the school auction. This is a win-win for a good store, and you really will never get enough knowledge through these questions to do as well as they can. (All of this is from about 30 years of experience in retail and wholesale wine sales. The store owners are usually there to help you, if you let them.)
pavane
Bill's advice is good if you can locate a retailer who knows something about French wines and who will give you good advice. To find this sort of person, avoid the big package liquor stores and places that have a rack or two of wine. A quality retailer should have wines laying down on their sides in a dimly-lit and cool environment and be carrying recently released wines (mostly from '03-'06). If you can't find a place like that and feel that the big package liquor store is your best choice, prepare to fend for yourself and to be limited to mass market wines. In that case, here are a few recommendations:
These wines aren't the best examples of their type, but are decently representative of what their region is all about. Since most of them retail for $10-$20 a bottle, you could buy one of each and still spend less than $150. You could round out the gift with some French cheeses or with some glasses, a corkscrew or something.
HTH Mark Lipton
That does help a lot, thanks so much for your recommendations!
Katrina
Why F_____ wine? Italian wines are often superior....
Well, each year the school picks a different country to focus on throughout the year, and this year will be France, so we are keeping with the theme. I'll push for Italy next year :)
Katrina
Why of course they are, dear. Thank you for your tremendously intelligent, helpful commentary. Now go help Karl get his clothes off and get ready for bed.
pavane
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