The Periodic Table of Wine by Sarah Rowlands

Author:Sarah Rowlands
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2017-04-13T04:00:00+00:00

CHINON

A region in France’s Loire Valley, named after its medieval fortress town, which also gives its name to dry red wines made predominantly with herby, aromatic Cabernet Franc grapes. (A tiny proportion of Chinon wines are cherry-fruited rosé and pale, crisp, quince-flavored whites made from Chenin Blanc grapes.) Here, year of production—the vintage—can be important. Chinons are light- to medium-bodied raspberry, summer pudding, fruity reds. They can have soft tannins or they can be more evident, with darker blueberry fruit, graphite hints of pencil shavings plus vanilla and tobacco-leaf notes as they are more likely to have seen a touch of oak. Cabernet Franc is more herby, with red and black fruits (fruits de bois) and fewer tannins and black currant compared with Cabernet Sauvignon. It can be a touch “green” in a cooler vintage, where the grapes have struggled to ripen. All Chinon wines have good levels of refreshing acidity and a suggestion of chalk minerals from the tuffeau (“freestone”) soils, making them suitable to accompany picnic food and white meats, gently braised meats, charcuterie, buffets, and informal lunches. Look for names like Bourgueil and Saumur-Champigny made in neighboring villages. Also try slightly lighter Beaujolais, plummy Merlots, and richer Cabernet Francs from further afield, like Chile, which have a sunnier, riper, more viscous texture. Dolcetto, Barbaresco, Chianti, and young Rioja are good options for a change.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.