Picpoul de Pinet 2007
Posted: 30 March '10 by Niall
Picpoul-de-pinet 2007
Just before our long weekend in Paris, Kelly and I thought that we should immerse ourselves in a little French culture and try the Picpoul de Pinet 2007.
The Picpoul de Pinet 2007 is a lively young white wine from the Languedoc-Rousillon region of South-West France. Although not renowned for it’s outstanding wines in the past, the area has reduced the amount of wine it produces in favour of concentrating more upon quality in recent years. While there is still a lot of variation, Languedoc produces good, reliable wines at a pocket-pleasing price (by and large).
The Details
- The Wine: Picpoul de Pinet 2007
- Producer: Domaine des Lauriers
- Region: Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- Appellation: Coteaux du Languedoc
- Grape: Picpoul Blanc
- Colour: White
- Alcohol: 12.5%
- Cost: £7.99
- We bought it in: Direct Wine Shipments (and is available online)
Tasting Notes
The Picpoul de Pinet has a pale-straw colour and a slightly honeyed aroma with some grass and citrus thrown in for good measure.
As you’d expect from a region that has a lot of limestone in the soil the taste has a mineral edge, and has delicate lemon and pear tones. The wine is light-bodied with a little acidity which makes it feel clean and crisp on the palate.
The finish is a pleasing medium-length one – just enough to leave you with a fond memory of the wine rather than a cloying aftertaste.
Our Verdict
On tasting the wine we both thought that this would be a perfect buy for the summer – it’s refreshingly light and crisp with subtle green-fruit flavours.
Although the wine is very pleasant to sip on it’s own, the Picpoul would go extremely well with fish, shellfish or chicken.
Ideally serve chilled but not too cold, otherwise you’ll mask the finer points of the wine.
Similar to a good Muscadet or even a Sancerre, but without the price-tag.
Summer BBQ, anyone?
Our rating: 3 out of 5.
Where can you buy it?
You can find the Picpoul at:
Direct Wine Shipments
5-7 Corporation Square,
Belfast
BT1 3AJ
T: 028 9050 8000
E: shop@directwine.co.uk
W: www.directwine.co.uk
You can also find DWS on Google Maps.
You can also buy the Picpoul de Pinet 2007 online.
Other information
This particular wine won the Silver Medal at the International Exhibition of Agriculture, which aims to select and reward the best traditional French products.
The French can talk at length about “terroir” – the environmental factors that influence the quality and complexity of a wine. Although this wine is from Languedoc-Rousillon, an area with a wide variety of micro-climates and landscapes, the appellation for this wine is the sought-after “Coteaux du Languedoc”. A “coteaux” is a hill covered in vines.
Tags: direct wine shipments, french wine, wine, Wine Reviews
Categories: White Wine > Wine Reviews
