2006 Jean-Pierre Robinot (L'Opera des Vins) Coteaux du Loir Vin de Table Annees Folles Petillant Rose

Vintage: 2006
Type: Rosé - Sparkling
Producer: Jean-Pierre Robinot (L'Opera des Vins)
Variety: Pineau d'Aunis (70%), Gamay (30%)
Designation: Vin de Table Annees Folles Petillant Rose
Country: France
Region: Loire Valley
SubRegion: Upper Loire
Appellation: Coteaux du Loir
Price: $19.99 from



Night One

The first thing you will notice about this wine is the closure. It is a crown cap, a pop top like an old glass bottle of Coke. Do you remember those little 10 oz bottles of Coke, and the machines that dispensed them (most of the time)? It does the same job as the Coke top, keeping the fizz in, and does it just fine.

This is a lightly sparkling wine, about half what you would see in a regular sparkler.

The nose is very interesting, starting with loads of pencil lead (very typical of Pineau d'Aunis) and sweet red fruit- strawberries and sweet cherries.

The palate is true to the nose, pencil lead and a little strawberry on the attack, with very sweet (even bruised and over-ripe) strawberries and cherries on the mid-palate, seasoned with a bit of sage. The finish is long and very sweet.

Night Two

The nose still leads with pencil lead and red fruit. The strawberries are the same but the cherries are sweeter, like maraschino. There is also a new aroma, the sweet and slightly vinegar smell of sushi rice.

Once again, the palate is true to the nose down to the sweet rice vinegar. The finish is long.

If truly pressed to put a label on this wine, I would call it "interesting." Not "good," nor "bad," but "interesting." It is something an oenophile should try for the experience, but don't run out and buy a case of it. The pencil lead is the primary aroma and flavor, and that is something I prefer as a secondary additional flavor, adding body and depth, rather than the lead. I also prefer more full-bodied cherries, like something from Traverse City, Michigan, in the summer, rather than maraschino, like something from a bottle in the refrigerator. This, however is purely a description of personal preference, rather than judgment of the wine, for I can not call it flawed, or even anything less than exactly what it purports to be.





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2004 Couly-Dutheil Chinon La Baronnie Madeleine

Type: Red
Producer: Couly-Dutheil
Variety: Cabernet Franc
Designation: La Baronnie Madeleine
Country: France
Region: Loire Valley
SubRegion: Touraine
Appellation: Chinon

$13.99 at Costco, in Indianapolis, Indiana



The Big Wooden Guy isn't sure if he should drink it or smoke it.

Night One

The classic identifying odor of Cabernet Franc is tobacco leaf. If you can't place that in your library of odor memories, find the nearest Costco and buy a bottle of this wine. The fruit is either non-existent or merely shut down. What you get is wave after wave of tobacco leaf. Smelling this wine is like walking through the back room of a cigar shop on Calle Ocho in Miami or Ybor City near Tampa (and perhaps, when we finally get done with our useless and counter-productive decades-long idiocy with Cuba, Havana).

Tobacco dominates the palate as well as the nose. If you sip some in, breathe in some air, swirl it around and really try, you can find some red fruit, cranberries and red currants. There is even dark chocolate on the mid-palate. However, tobacco is the dominating feature. The finish is medium length, as is the mouth feel. Acids are bright. Tannins make a light backbone, not overpowering but clearly there and wanting more time to integrate.

Night Two

A night made some difference, but I fear not enough. Tobacco still leads the nose. It has added some eucalyptus and menthol, plus a hint of fennel. On the palate, too, tobacco keeps the lead,with the addition of black olives. Now though, the eucalyptus shows up on the mid-palate.

Acidity remains very bright, along with light tannins, offering a good backbone for additional maturity. Will fruit appear later? Perhaps. It is hard to tell if it is merely shut down or non-existent. This wine, though, provides a classroom demonstration of what "tobacco" means in Cab Franc, and for a mere $13 is worth buying two bottles- one for the lesson, and another to see what happens in 2012.