A Tale of Two Wines

It was the best of wines, it was the blurst* of wines.....Alright, never mind. That opening is too stupid even for me. But I do want to talk about two very different wines. Pinot Noirs to be precise.

I've mentioned before the two different styles of Pinot Noir. These two wines really typify those two different styles, Les Jamelles has that light fruity "cherry soda" style, while Les Tours has that intense mineral style. Both of them are $9.99 so if one were of a mind to, one could buy both to compare and contrast and have a fun little wine tasting for under $20 (admittedly only $.02 under $20 and that's only before taxes but I still think my point is valid).

Les Jamelles Pinot Noir-- is from France but the style is pure Californian. Immediately accessible, lush, fruity, with a lot of residual sugar. if you like red wine at all you will like this wine--you might not be excited by it (for some wine drinkers accessibility can be boring)--but you will like it.

Les Tours Pinot Noir-- is not only from France, it tastes like it's from France, Burgundy in fact. But since it's not from Burgundy instead of 50 bucks it's 10. Lots of mineral supported by floral, wild strawberry and rhubard. Those of you who are only used to new world wines (which are far more fruit-forward than old world wines) might think I'm crazy to say that this wine is great. But it is great--it's designed to go with food. For instance, Beef Bourgogne (duh), or even just a really rich and very salty French Onion Soup.

Now here is where it gets weird. These wines are totally different from each other. Well, sorta. Not only are both of these wines from the same country (France) and the sames region (Languedoc) and the same grape (Pinot Noir), they are from the same vineyards. Seriously, these two wineries get their juice from the same growers. The only difference is the wine makers. And that's why tasting these two wines together is so interesting. The most important variable in wine is not country, region, or even varietal, but may be, who the wine maker is.

*Bonus unnecessary Simpson's reference. "You stupid monkey!"