This month, we at the French Winophiles, are showcasing
Picpoul de Pinet. Picpoul is a grape grown in the Languedoc region of France. This exploration is being hosted by Cam of
Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Cam gave us a little
Sneak Peek of the event.
I went to my closest local wine store. The owner there is wonderful and will search out any wines that I need for these groups to which I belong. I told him I needed Picpoul. He was not familiar with this wine but looked it up and told me he would work on getting me some along with the other wines that were on my list.
About a week later, he contacted me and said that my wines were in however his distributor had no more Picpoul and did not know when he would get more as Picpoul has a very limited bottling. His distributor had told him that only 900 cases of Picpoul are bottled each year.
I thought I was going to have to take a trip down to the City and try my luck there but then I got the great news that we were all being sent samples of this wine. I received two bottles of Picpoul de Pinet.
Today, I am showcasing the 2016 bottling from
Cave de Pomerols. It sells on
Wine.com for $11.99 per bottle. I received no monetary compensation for this post and all opinions expressed are completely my own.
I have yet to open the bottle from
Gerard Bertrand. I am hoping to invite our friend, Gassan, who owns the local wine store, over to taste this wine with us just as soon as our remodel is completed.
I did share the bottle of Cave de Pomerols with our friends, the Bendas. I served it with a
Rustic Shrimp Cocktail and it paired perfectly however I think this wine is wonderful all by itself.
It pours a beautiful golden yellow. It is crisp and dry but very smooth with no acidic bite. It smells like a garden to me. The first sip was very surprising as I am not use to such distinct floral undertones. I LOVED it. Which really kind of surprised me because I have always preferred "oaky" whites.
The first thing I thought, upon tasting this wine, was how wonderful it was going to be relaxing by the pool with a glass. It is like sipping Summertime.
Picpouls are known for their perfect pairings with seafood of all sorts. The smooth floralness (is that a word? It is now) neutralizes the salt and iodine found in shellfish. I think it would be amazing with raw oysters. I was hoping to do so when I open the next bottle but the "r" months are nearly over so I will wait until the fall and order up a few more bottles.
I'm very anxious to see what the others thought. I am including links to all of their articles so you can check them out. You are also invited to join us as we discuss our pairings today at 11 AM ET on twitter using #Winophiles and #Languedocwines.
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