Domaine de Pouy

Maker: Tariquet, Eauze, Midi-Pyrénées, France (Grassa family)

Grapes: Ugni Blanc & Colombard

Place of origin: Côtes de Gascone

Vintage: 2012

ABV: 11.5%

Appearance: Golden straw.

Nose: Crisp and lightly fruity. Peach, pear, tangerine.

On the palate: A bit more citrus, but still crispy. Peach, Clementine, lemon thyme drying to flintiness. As it opens up, more grapefruit comes to the fore.

Finish: Drying. The fruit is still there but loses out to minerals in the end. Leaves a slight bitterness on the tongue.

Parting words: I love wines (and beers and whiskeys and other stuff) that defy my expectations. You see, I had decided that I didn’t like French whites from the western part of the country. I had some dull white Bordeaux and so I wrote off the entire area.  But being an adventurous soul, I saw this wine recommended as a “crisp summer white” by a local wine-monger who has never failed to find me good values in French wine in the past. So I bought a bottle.

I’m glad I did. It certainly delivers on the crispness and it would be hard to ask for a better wine of this type at $10 or less. Might buy a couple more of these before the summer is out! Domaine de Pouy is highly recommended.