AOC51 is a newish importer. But to put it bluntly, their wines tend to be pretty awesome. I've previously written about some Graci wines from Etna that they import. But they apparently have lots of other great stuff as well. These wines were opened yesterday at some tasting I wasn't able to participate in, but I was kindly given the remains to try. So do keep in mind that these have had a day of air.
Catherine Bernard Vin de France Rosé de Table 2013
Carignan. At the deep end of salmon pink. Really lovely, fresh, mineral scent, a little bit earthy. Vibrant and nicely acidic though fairly substantial. Very moreish.
Catherine Bernard Vin de Table 2013
A red Carignan. Really nice berry aromas, earthy and savoury but with some lactic, yoghurt aromas, too. Good crunch on the palate, dense and tannic but light on its feet, refreshing and moreish finish. Lovely. So what's the problem with Carignan? Why all the hate? From Treloar's and this, it's a genuinely interesting grape at best.
P-U-R 3 Artiste 2011
100% Mourvèdre. I love Mourvèdre. Alas, I only got to try this after a day open and this hadn't survived a day of air gracefully and though it was perfectly enjoyable and gluggable it didn't show much character of the grape, it was instead a bit raisiny. I have loved some P-U-R Beaujolais, however, and I hope to try some of their other wines in the future to see if they're as brilliant. But if you ever see a P-U-R Beaujolais, please do try it.
Bernard Baudry Chinon 2011
Amazing stuff for what is supposedly a basic wine. There is nothing basic about this. There's a lovely loamy touch to the fruit here - it's a very savoury and earthy style. It has amazingly pure tannins and purity of fruit, too, so it is just amazing fun. I find a lovely touch of good greenness here, too, and I think it is only a good thing with this grape. Lean, mean and green may seem pejorative to some but with this wine it's just a positive. Awesome wine!
Andréa Calek Babiole
A blend of Grenache and Syrah from Ardèche. It smells very "natural" and very nice. It's a sweetly fruity wine, obviously in the "natural" camp. Good structure and liveliness. This is the good type of naturalism: clean, pure, typical, moreish yet different and interesting.
Andréa Calek Chatons de Garde
A 100% Syrah from Ardèche. Meaty, dark fruit with again wonderful liveliness and structure on the palate. Lovely wine and again it seemed like what naturalism ideally should be: not freaky but wonderfully tasty and just different enough that I can still sense the grape but can see the different approach to wine making, too.