Help?? A good French wine?

[silkiechicken]

So I'm in search of a good French wine... not for myself, but as a gift. Any ideas? Shoot, I don't drink, so I'm actually open to any type of wine that would be good for gift giving to someone who well... might know wines from living in France for a few years.

 

[Goose and Fig]

I'm partial to German wines. They're pretty affordable, easy to drink, and go great with food or on their own. My favorites are Piesporter and Reisling. (Don't ever buy Reisling that has a twist cap- especially Yellow Tail)

There is one brand that comes in an exceptionally beautiful bottle (dang- can't remember the name) There is an artist that paints murals with wine, and the prints are on the glass (and transparent) It would make a nice gift if you could find it.

 

[NRacine]

I like any red Cotes du Rhone wine. They are from the Rhone region of France. Cotes du Ventoux wines are from Mt. Ventoux in the Rhone region. I recently found a Ventoux wine with a chicken on the bottle, so, needless to say, it's my new favorite! (http://www.lavieilleferme.com/rouge.php?langue=en)

$10 is a good price to pay. Anything less and they start getting yucky, anything more and you can't tell the difference until you start to break the bank at $30 a bottle.

 

[19Dawn76]

I am a sutter home gal. Anytime I buy someone wine I get it from a local winery cause I know nothing about good , expensive wine.

 

[Joz]

Wine needn't be expensive, but expect to pay between $12-20 for a reasonable quality French wine.

Cotes du Rhone is a lovely varietal, and can be found inexpensively.
Chateau Neuf du Pape (sp? My french is crap.) is even better, and the cheapest ones are still stellar. They start between $35-40 a bottle, and are worth it.
Burgundies and Bordeaux are good also, but I'm not familiar enough to know if they're as good across different wineries.

If you want on the spot help, go to a wine shop. The people who work there are usually pretty good about knowing their stock. The grocery store likely won't have anyone specific to the department, so a wine shop will be a better bet.

 

[mjdtexan]

Thunder Bird goes well with turkey

 

[redhen]

Night train..

 

[tdgill]

No help here, but reminded me of a story to share...

I went to France in 1977 as part of a class trip and ended up accepting my classmates wine servings at dinner. Seems that no one appreciated the taste and they opted for soda instead. And although my classmates didnt care for the wine, several of us bought bottles to bring back to the US. In mid flight our french teacher informed us that our wine would be taken from us at customs since we were all under drinking age in the states, and we were given the option to drink our purchases before we landed. Needless to say, there were quite a few wine drinkers that night. Hard to imagine this happening today. I am sure it wouldn't!

 

[mom'sfolly]

I like Bordeaux, but I think your best bet is to go to a good wineshop, give the wine guy/gal your price range, what you know of your friend's preferences and they should be able to fix you up. France makes some lovely whites as well, but are better known from the big reds. Champagne is French too, and comes in a variety of price ranges. Decent French wines start at around $9/bottle, and goes up from there. Very good, estate bottled wine can go for hundreds of dollars.....

The French take wine very seriously, and each region is tightly controlled on labelling, grape type, blends and other things. In champagne, even the method of fermentation is controlled. A good wine guy is your best bet, and they might be able to point you to some real bargains. Most large estate wineries have a second label, where they do their experimenting and playing around. You have the world's best vitners making a second label wine, at very good quality, but a much reduced price due to the lack of "name". A good wine guy can know as much about wine as you do about biochemisty, and he will probably know at least some about climate, wine chemisty and the wonders of French oak vs American oak.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Maderia