I think by now you know how The Hub and I feel about California wines. We love them. We're going to miss their accessibility here in San Francisco. I probably shouldn't be saying this....but we struggle with French wines. I just never can seem to find one that I love as much as a bold, spicy California red. I think the hardest part for me, is that picking out a French wine is a completely different process as they are set up by region, not winery. And within each region are smaller regions or apellations. Whew! It's a lot of little areas to keep track of and I have a hard time remembering which ones I like. But we are learning.
And in the spirit of learning, we tried a few French wines during our Coq au Vin feast with with Shawn and Kate.
Both of these wines were great, but I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the one on the left - the 2007 Domaine Andezon Côtes du Rhône - that we got through our K&L Best Buy Wine Club membership. Typically, wines from the Rhône Valley are not my favorite, but this one had a great deep ruby color and spicy flavor - right up my alley! Apparently the Andezon is a project of a U.S. importer and a co-operative called Vignerons d'Estezargues, which is located just south of Avignon, France in the Rhône Valley. I looked it up on Google Maps and whaddya know - it's about an hour from our new home of Montpellier. Maybe we'll go visit someday soon.