1988-04 April 1988 Newsletter

At first impression from the label, one will say, "A lowly Vin de Pays with a fancy label." The lack of appellation, the feminine Victorian painting with a raised glass, the pink border, would turn a wine enthusiast away from this bottle.

But... it is what is inside that counts! For the price, this one is very good, de¬spite its visual credentials!

Here, we have an effort by a French wine marketer to appeal to the American consumer... and maybe they will! (Who would have ever thought the ecclesiasti¬cal approach would have worked with a well known German wine. The one with the sisters from the convent on a bicycle, and blue vestments!) In this case, the first tactic is a departure from the tradi¬tional way of labeling French wine, by region or by estate, to the American way of labeling it by the variety. Then, a trademark of "LaJolie" has been added in case the brand name takes off and be¬comes another household word.

"Vin de Pays" means country wine. It is one of the lower-end classifications of wines of France. No pedigree trail here!

The wine is distributed by a negociant-eleveur in Burgundy, France, specifically from the famous village of Nuit St. Georges; but, using marketing tactics, they won't even put their true name on the label, and instead, use a secondary DBA. (I am sworn not to divulge!) No matter... it's the wine that counts!

The chardonnay grape is famous around the world. Only a couple of hundred miles north from where this wine comes from are some of its world renown sis¬ters... the famous white wines of Bur¬gundy (in no way does our wine portend to be related). This chardonnay comes from the prolific "Cotes du Rhone" re-gion. On the west side of the Rhone riv¬er, south of Lyons and north of Nimes is a district called Ardeche. The negociant-eleveur purchases wine from various growers and producers around Ardeche, and blends them to his taste. He is really putting his mark of approval on his style of blend. He is attempting to establish an international brand of this style and taste for his marketing firm. It is pretty good! Whoever is doing it, knows what they are doing!

From among the various non-pedigreed chardonnays from France in this price range, I was taken by LaJolie.

Our wine is straw yellow in color. The aroma is hidden behind a chalky opening, but appears after a couple of sniffs, as a hint of pears. The taste is rich in fruit, with good crisp acid in a medium body that is full of flavors. A total taste fol¬lows, which has all the elements together in a bed of intensity of the chardonnay grape. No butter, no nuances, no com¬plexity potential of any consequence, but just good flavor. Serve chilled with chicken salad sandwiches.

Cellaring Notes: Drink young, will be at its best in 1988/89.