French wines are overrated

Except for the real expensive stuff (and even those sometimes), they are usually thin, and lacking in fruit.

At least that's what I'm finding out after opening a few bottles I just bought in Bordeaux.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto
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Overrated by whom? The wines (especially lower-end stuff) sell in a pretty free market.

Maybe they are "thin and lacking in fruit" compared with new world wines. Look beyond that to see other qualities. Some of us like them that way - they tend to go better with food.

As it happens, I am not a great fan of low-end Bordeaux myself, but that my personal opinion. And the better Bordeaux needs aging.

Reply to
Steve Slatcher

So, you judge the entire French wine industry on a handful of Bordeaux wines - whilst ignoring Burgundy, the Rhone, Alsace; the Loire; Champagne; Bandol; Cahors; etc etc etc.

So, what did you buy - some very cheap, nasty, basic stuff which abounds under 000's of labels - or something vaguely recognisable?

Perhaps you have an interest in your local wine industry, and think that we should ignore the very French influence apparent in so many Chilean wines!

I too have experienced some pretty crappy stuff, from Bordeaux (and Chile, Australia, yes, even New Zealand!!!) - but, hey - I purchased it - it is my fault if I don't do the homework first.

I blame myself - not the entire winemaking industry!

Reply to
st.helier

Don't feed the trolls.

Ron Lel

Reply to
Ron Lel

] Except for the real expensive stuff (and even those sometimes), they are ] usually thin, and lacking in fruit. ] ] At least that's what I'm finding out after opening a few bottles I just ] bought in Bordeaux. ] ] -Indirecto ] ]

That was pretty "directo," actually. This post, as opposed to some others where you apparently had some knowledge, labels you at best ignorant and at worse a prat. Sorry, but that's what it looks like from here.

There are many international style fruit bombs I find overbearing, lacking interest, and downright impossible with food. But just because I don't care for them doesn't mean I'll pronounce them "over-rated." Plenty of people

-- on this forum and elsewhere -- like them just fine.

No one knowledgeable will deny that there is an ocean of cheap and nasty Bordeaux on the market. To judge modest Bordeaux by that standard is like judging all California from Gallo's latest central valley cuvee. (Note that I assume your tarring all of France with the same brush is again a question of ignorance of french wines in general.)

There are inexpensive Bordeaux out there that are excellent, to my tastes. That's not to say they will please someone looking for a fruit bomb. In any case, here as elsewhere, it is a question of separating the wheat from the chaff.

BTW, if your post was simply a question of a gaff by a non-native english speaker, please accept my unreserved apology for the strength of the response.

HTH,

-E

Reply to
Emery Davis

Low-end Italian wines are far better.

Reply to
Uranium Committee

I'm sticking with two-buck chuck.

Reply to
Ron Natalie

If that is your complaint look to the south. If you wants something affordable and gutsy, try a Gigondas, a Coteaux du Langeduoc, or

*maybe* a Madrian. There are plenty of inexpensive fruit forward Cote du Rhones or Cotes de Provence out there as well.

France simply does more things better in wine than any other country. That said one can easily drink a mediocre bottle--so the worst is also definately out there. But on balance, it is safe to say that is possible to have more profound bottles of more different varieties and styles than of any other region in the world. This is why so many gravitate towards the French wines.

Also, If you were fan of whites I would point you towards Alsace...no shoratge of fruit or body there.

ML

Reply to
th_duck

First of all, the city of Bordeaux is not necessarily the place to buy Bordeaux. Every wine dealer has a few favorites and even the larger merchants are choosy with respect to breadth of their stock.

Secondly to an American used to Napa products, low end bx wines are commonly thin and acid. and more serious products with little bottle age tend to still be considered too tannic (puckery) and acid and non-fruity. What gives Bx wines their distinction is their complexity and their aging quality.

California reds imho mostly go down hill after bottling and even some good ones don't last six or seven years without deteriorating.

No question that Bx wines are made to a different standard than most Cal. wines. But what an opportunity to develop another palate! All Bordeaux wines are blends of up to four grape varieties, the proportions of each vary from one appellation to another. This is one factor in the wines complexity. I would strongly recommend that you read a book on the wines of Bordeaux so that you can get an idea of what your are buying.

Finally high end Cal wines (greater than $80) are not competitive with French wines on a price / quality basis. The ordinary Frenchman will commonly drink wines on an every day basis that would cost the equivalent of 5-10 dollars US. Some are OK but most of such are not even exported to the US. Giving you some slack, I don't think that the frogs have ever made a wine of the same price/quality (such as it was) as the old Gallo Hearty Burgundy.

Reply to
Bob Ehrlich

It is an often stated position in Australia that what the French drink Australians would pour down the drain.

This could of course be a marketing ploy for the Australian market. It also probably is more referring to lowish end wines, not premiums.

The French do seem to drink wine more often than most (good on them, might help to explain why they live so long and healthily). It is part of almost every meal, whereas in Australia this is less so.

I have very little experience of French wines, but the mostly low end CDRs and Bordeaux I have had have been rather poor when compared to much cheaper Australians.

Plus of course there is the old stereotype of old world versus new. The wines of Italy and France particularly etc are supposedly much more subtle than the new world wines of say Australia, which are bold and new and quite prepared to go outside the normal centuries old Euro-centric wine making paradigms.

I guess its kind of like being used to strong black coffee with 3 sugars, then you start drinking herbal tea with no milk no sugar. If you're used to big bold wines (or fruit bombs as they are derogatorily referred to) then a more subtle wine is going to be rather boring.

Plus of course as other posters have pointed out, low end French wines are often a pretty poor representation of French wines in general.

Reply to
Mat

Do you drink Lambrusco from Cantine Riunite?

Reply to
Vilco

I don't, but I remember when getting married back in 1982 I visited my father-in-law who then worked in the Piedmont region. You could buy a Dolcetto in a local small supermarket for 900 lire. This was slightly spritzy, but then a Dolcetto for 1300 lire was perfectly drinkable. At the time, there were 1350 lire to the US Dollar.

M.

Reply to
Michael Pronay

That's a lie. The F_____ can't hold a candle to Italy.

Another outright lie. Italy has more grapes and varieties than any other country.

Reply to
Uranium Committee

No. I'm talking about $10-15 bottles from Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia.

Reply to
Uranium Committee

I'm pretty Italian-centric myself, but have found some great French wines that I do enjoy. For something that you don't have to wait around for, try Joseph Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 2001 Burgundy. It's easily the best Pinot Noir that I've had. I intend to bring a couple to Thanksgiving dinner.

Reply to
SJP

I'm sorry I offended some of you out there...

My post was a result of opening a bottle of 1998 Chateau Magdelaine that I bought for about US$40 a bottle, and kind of thinking... "am I missing something?". Also coming to the conclusion that for less than Euro$30, spanish wine, in general, tasted much better.

I don't think I'm ignorant... although apparently not as knowlegable as some here. Or is it perhaps that my pallate is too used to fruitier wine.

Sometimes I feel french wine is like scotch whisky. People drink it more for the status than the actual content. No doubt there are notable exceptions.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

I tried about 10 wines, price $20-$30... consider it a random sample. Perhaps I was just unlucky.

Yeah, Chile has tons of nasty stuff too... especially low-end carmenere and merlot.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

I am starting to give it a try to the Rhone stuff (I believe it would be mainly Grenache and Syrah?). Unfortunately, all I've tried so far is a 1996 Chanteneuf-du-Pape, and it... well, sucked. I hope I have better luck next time.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

Thanks for the suggestion.

Unfortunately I only drink Pinot Noir when I meet my dad and we have fish. He can't drink white wine (makes him sick), so we go for the lightest red possible that we can drink cold.

For light european wines I prefer italian chiantis. Though ,of course, I usually drink local carmenere.

Burgundy is usually too expensive for me.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

Overrated by the trade-rags.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

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