1985 Chateau Dauzac - 30 years celebrated with 30 years of history

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Oh where to start.....First of all, it has been a while! We have been very busy this summer and it has kept us away from the blog a bit. However, don't worry! We are back and we have a lot coming up. 

This year we had a 30th birthday celebration. We thought, how special would it be to celebrate with a 30 year old bottle of wine? Chateau Dauzac is one of our favorite Bordeaux so we decided to take on the search. We started our search domestic. No such luck. Fortunately, we were able to take our search internationally and have a family member purchase a 1985 Chateau Dauzac in France and bring it back when they came to visit. Don't think because they were in France it was as easy a quick stop at the wine store. Days of searching lead us to the 1 bottle. Thank you WineSearcher.

As soon as we received the bottle we had our doubts. Was it well kept all these years? Did the traveling affect it? Is it past its peak? Either way we had to wait until the birthday celebration to find out. And we did. As we removed the foil, the cork was a bit popped out and looked in bad shape. Deep breath. We continue and use the monopol to remove such an old and fragile cork. Small pieces began to break off. 3/4ths of the way and the cork breaks. We push in the end of the cork into the bottle and pour the wine. At first sight, beautiful strong mauve red. At first smell, oaky and old but intriguing. We cheer and take our first sip. Silky, smooth and just past its peak. The celebration began!

The French come to discover their own wine abroad

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Spring is here and so are our guests! It's time for our friends to leave their cold homes behind and come get some sunshine in Florida!  

And from France they come and discover their own wine. As we prepare a nice meal, we pair our steaks with a 2011 La Tour Carnet. We let it decant for a good hour and as soon as dinner is ready, we cheer to another great night!  

Château La Tour Carnet, a Grand Cru Classé, is one of our favorite wineries. It was actually the first vineyard we visited when we went to Bordeaux last year. It's immense, full of history and simply breathtaking. The property is maintained to the most utmost detail and the tour was extremely detailed - they did a great job at transporting us back in time!

Tasting Date: April 3, 2015

Wine Name: La Tour Carnet

Vintage: 2011

Grapes: 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot 

Producer: Bernard Magrez

Location: Bordeaux

Purchased Price: $35

Purchased Location: ABC Wine

Tasting Notes: Silky smooth, full velvety red. 

Would Buy Again: Yes!

Rating: 89 Points

2015 Super Bowl with a French Touch!

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We have chosen to watch this year's Super Bowl with a French touch accompanied by Douce Vie. This rosé is from Côtes de Provence, from one of our favorite vintners Bernard Magrez. From sunny Florida we are rooting for the Seahawks! Who are you rooting for?

Tasting Date: February 1, 2015

Wine Name: Douce Vie Les Muraires

Vintage: 2013

Producer: Bernard Magrez

Appelation: Côtes de Provence, Provence, France

Grapes: 65% Syrah, 30% Grenache and 5% Cinsault

Purchased Price: $12.99

Purchased Location: ABC Wines & Liquor

Tasting Notes: Beautiful light coral pink color. Fruity on the nose - strawberries and raspberries. Light, sweet and refreshing on the palate. Wonderful rosé!

Bon match! 

2012 Bordeaux Grands Crus Wine Tasting Notes

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This past Thursday we attended the 2012 Bordeaux Grands Crus Wine Tasting hosted by Total Wine at The Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel. We had purchased VIP tickets allowing us access at 7PM (30mins before general admission). This was great as it wasn't too busy and we really got a good head start. As we entered, we were handed the pricing list, a book describing all the chateaus present, a little tasting notebook, and of course a wine glass each. With over 80+ Chateaus it was a little hard knowing where to start

Alright, here we go straight into the Pessac region with Chateau Pape-Clément, one of the oldest properties in Bordeaux - and let us tell you what a great wine to start with! We've been wanting to try Chateau Pape-Clément as we heard many great things about it and are huge fans of the owner, Bernard Magrez's, other wines. As expected, a wonderful medium body with low tanins. Next up, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte impressed us with a very smooth wine yet strong on the side of red berries. A very promising vintage to begin drinking within the next 3 years. Interestingly enough, they explained to us their method of bio precision - a topic we will cover in more detail on another post! 

Moving into Margaux we were ready to taste the 2012 vintage of one of our favorite regions! Chateau Labégorce, Chateau Lascombes, Chateau Ferrière, just to name a few were all introductions into what ended up being an amazing evening. As we made our way to Chateau Brane-Cantenac we met with the Commercial Director, Marie-Hélène Dussech who was really nice. Through sips which left you enjoying its beautiful maturity, we chatted about the chateau, the vintage and her stay so far in our city. By the way, if you haven't tried the 2005 Brane-Canternac, I highly recommend you do!

Next we decided to head over to the regions of St. Julien, Paulliac and St. Estephe. Those that topped our list in each of these regions were Chateau Beychevelle, Chateau Léoville Barton, Chateau Gloria, Chateau Talbot, Chateau Lynch-Bages and Chateau Phélan Ségur.

Last but certainly not least, we moved into the charming region of St. Émilion. Having been there this past May, we went directly to Chateau La Gaffeliere - it was our last and best wine of the night! It was great to see a Chateau that we had visited in person at the event. We got to meet the owner Alexandre de Malet Roquefort, a truly humble and genuine man. An immediate connection, we conversed for quite some time, enjoying the aroma and sensual, silky wine with each sip. Alexandre, merci beaucoup pour votre gentillesse.

A simply fantastic evening where we met some interesting people, tried some amazing wines and discovered a few new favorites. Drink young or keep for a few years - it will definitely be an enjoyment!

À bientôt!

Bienvenue!

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Bienvenue au French Wine Journal! 

As our first post we wanted to share with you our idea and tell you in more detail what you can expect from our site. We created The French Wine Journal so we can share with you our notes on wines, events we attend, any tips and tricks we come across and more. We must remind you that this Journal is strictly based on our opinions. While we are not certified sommeliers, we do love wine and sharing our knowledge.

The majority of posts will be around French wines yet do expect us to venture out to the other amazing wine countries in the world. Below is a sample of the type of information we will post while "reviewing" a wine. Note that this may change based on your feedback :)

Wine Name: 

Vintage: 

Region: 

Growth: 

Grapes: 

Purchased Price: 

Purchased Location: 

Tasting Notes:

Other Notes: 

A bientôt!