Final of the 2014 French Tasting Championship

On June 28th, the final of the 2014 RVF competition took place in Bordeaux.

Discover the tasting notes from a member of the Vins & Millésimes team!

FINAL OF THE RVF FRENCH TASTING CHAMPIONSHIP BORDEAUX 28|6|2014

The wines tasted

Wine N° 1:
Grape varieties: pinot noir 66% chardonnay 34%
Appellation: Champagne Producer (Château or estate): Bollinger
Cuvée name: Grande Année Vintage: 2004
The robe is pronounced, the nose toasted and complex with aromas of citrus and ripe apples... The attack is round, the mid-palate creamy, and the finish lemony, chiseled and lightly dosed..
This is undoubtedly a Champagne and a beautiful champagne, quite powerful and evolved. We think of a blend with a slight predominance of Chardonnay from 2002, even though red fruit aromas appear as it warms... It's a pinot noir majority, yet a champagne tasted several times over the last 12 months..

Wine N° 2:
Grape varieties: chardonnay
Appellation: Meursault
Producer (château or estate): Olivier Leflaive
Cuvée name (if applicable): 1er cru Charmes Vintage: 2010
Very chiseled, white fruits, citrus, wood, a lovely wine that needs to digest its wood. We immediately go to Burgundy in Côte de Beaune, the chiseled and broad character makes us think of Meursault, and the acidity of 2010 on a Premier cru Perrières... Not bad!

Wine N° 3:
Grape varieties: riesling
Appellation: Alsace Gd Cru Pfingstberg
Producer (château or estate): Valentin Zusslin
Cuvée name (if applicable): Pfingstberg
Vintage: 2008
Nose of candied citrus, smoky, petrol, powerful and acidic palate, almost dry, very lovely wine. My partner leans towards Pinot Gris, I towards a Riesling... The balance of the wine seems too strict for a Pinot gris. We go for a Riesling Grand cru Schlossberg from Faller in 2011…

Wine N° 4:
Grape varieties: viognier
Appellation: Côtes du Rhône
Producer (château or estate): Château Noël Saint-Laurent
Cuvée name (if applicable): Réserve Les Argentines
Vintage: 2011
Muscat nose that reminds me of certain viogniers. The palate is powerful, very fatty, alcohol, dried fruits, bitterness in the finish... Not really my style of wine! We first think of a marsanne or a roussanne a bit too fatty.. Then the memory of that first nose leads us to reconsider our position and return to a viognier, in Côte du Rhône (Condrieu) 2012... Good call for region and grape variety. Few teams chose Viognier.

Reds Wine N° 5:
Grape varieties: merlot 95% cabernet franc 5%
Appellation: Pomerol
Producer (château or estate): Château La Conseillante
Cuvée name (if applicable): Duo de Conseillante
Vintage: 2010
Medium intensity and matte robe, slightly vegetal nose, on the palate light woodiness, acidity, very fruity, slightly smoky..
The robe makes us think of a Loire Cabernet Franc but no trace of bell pepper and a bit too much wood. We think of a blend with Merlot as the majority | Cabernet Sauvignon in Graves, from 2011 for the slightly vegetal character.

Wine N° 6:
Grape varieties: grenache 50% mourvèdre 40% syrah 10%
Appellation: Gigondas
Producer (estate): Domaine Brusset
Cuvée name (if applicable): Les secrets de Montmirail
Vintage: 2012
Pale and purplish robe, nose of blackcurrant and violet... Supple palate, without excess alcohol, digestible.. which reminds me of a Crozes Hermitage 2012 from Maxime Graillot, my partner finds it more southern... He was right. We still score points on the vintage and region.

Wine N°7
Grape varieties: syrah 60% mourvèdre 20% grenache 20%
Appellation: Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac
Producer (château or estate): Domaine Montcalmès
Cuvée name (if applicable):
Vintage: 2010
First nose of Syrah (blackberries and floral), a hint of animal notes, sensual palate, very beautiful wine without excess alcohol but which remains southern... We think of a Grenache|Syrah|Mourvèdre blend... In Languedoc, we mention the Domaine de Montcalmès..
In the end, we placed a Syrah Coteaux du Languedoc 2011... Not too far off... Many teams will place this wine in Burgundy... That shows how fine and delicate it is!

Wine N° 8
Grape varieties: grenache 70% mourvèdre 17% syrah 10% cinsault 3%
Appellation: Châteauneuf-du-pape
Producer (château or estate): Domaine Les Cailloux Cuvée name (if applicable):
Vintage: 2011
Very pale robe... nose of dried fruits, very floral and complex. The palate is more powerful with lots of alcohol and relatively pleasant tannins...
We hesitate between Corsica (Nielluciu) and Châteauneuf du pape, we choose Châteauneuf du pape 2011 in grenache, well done!

We are 3rd out of 35 after the first 8 wines with 94 points and 4 points behind the 1^st and quite pleased with ourselves. We are among the 6 teams continuing the competition on stage. It's a speed exercise in which we are not very good, and it's a real disaster, with a "triple zero" on wines 9, 10, 11 and ultimately an honorable but disappointing 6th place considering the first 8 wines.

FINAL six

Wine N° 9
Grape varieties: chenin
Appellation: Anjou
Producer (estate): Domaine de Juchépie
Cuvée name (if applicable): Le Clos
Vintage: 2011

Wine N° 10
Grape varieties: mourvèdre 100%
Appellation: Corbières
Producer (estate): Château Spencer La Pujade
Cuvée name (if applicable): Le Bosc
Vintage: 2011

Wine N° 11
Grape varieties: Syrah
Appellation: Saint Joseph
Producer (château or estate): Domaine Coursodon
Cuvée name (if applicable): L'Olivaie
Vintage: 2009

Wine N° 12
Grape varieties: sémillon 90% sauvignon 8% muscadelle 2%
Appellation: Sauternes
Producer (château or estate): Château Gilette
Cuvée name (if applicable):

Vintage: 1989