Dinner - Zeppoli's (French Wine)

My boyfriend and I tasting one of the red wines.

My boyfriend, a few of my friends, and I went to our third and final wine dinner at Zeppoli's on Sunday night. I was especially excited for this dinner because it was French themed, and French wines are known to be tasty. We tried 3 whites and 7 reds, which I was kind of disappointed about because I prefer white wines over reds, but I was still interested in tasting a variety of French wines. The food that we were able to pair with the wines was the best yet, so I was glad that we decided to come to this dinner. 

My dinner included salad with calamari, Greek pasta salad, pasta pinwheels, cheese raviolis, garlic bread, and a variety of cheese and crackers.

First, we tasted the white wines. Though there were only three whites offered, the waiter said that they were very representative of the French wine culture. We tried a Chateau Gaillard Touraine Sauvignon Blanc first, priced at $11.99 with an alcohol content of 12.5%. This white had sweet aromas, mostly of florals and tropical fruits. It also had hints of buttery aromas. It tasted fruity, somewhat like grapefruit, and had a crisp acidity and dry texture to it. I enjoyed it okay, but would not rank it as my favorite white of the night. It paired very nicely with the cheese and crackers, though. The second white that we tasted was a Chateau Suau 2010 Bordeaux Blanc Sec, priced at $10.99 with an alcohol content of 12.5%. This white smelled very much like honeysuckles and peach, and tasted equally as enticing, mostly like citrus fruits. It was very crisp and refreshing, with a good balance between sweetness, acidity, and tannins. Though it had a pretty high alcohol percentage, it did not have much heat and had a very smooth finish. I paired this with the Greek pasta salad and the salad with calamari. It was my favorite white of the night. The last white we tried was a Prochaine 2009 Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc France, priced at $10.99 with an alcohol content of 13%. This had more oaky aromas than the first two whites, and it tasted much more musky and woody. It was a very creamy Chardonnay, but it did have hints of fruits like mangos and pineapple. I did not really enjoy the aftertaste of this white (possibly it was not completely matured due to less aging), but it did pair nicely with the pasta pinwheels which were heavy in cheese. 

Next, we moved onto the red wines. The first one was actually a Manoir Du Carra 2010 Beaujolais noveau, priced at 10.99 with an alcohol content of 12.5%. This tasted extremely unfinished and was not very enjoyable. Apparently this was supposed to be a direct representation of the 2010 growing year, but I don't see why someone would buy something that tasted bad for solely this reason.  The next red was a Jean-marc burgaud 2010 Beaujolais Villages, priced at 14.99 with an alcohol content of 12.5%. This was much better than the Beaujolais noveau  because it was actually aged properly. It also had aromas of dark berries and spices, but had a hint of vanilla as well. It was still full-bodied and balanced. I paired it with calamari and it went together well. My favorite red of the night was a Clos de sixte 2004: Lirac, priced at 11.99 with an alcohol content of 14.5%. It's aromas were very strong, smelling mostly of plum and spices. It tasted mostly like dark berries and jam, had a fully body, great tannin, as well as a lot of definition. It was easy to see why Robert Parker gave it 88-90 points!