For today’s posting, I thought I’d switch things up a bit and write down my thoughts about our Weekend Wine as I’m tasting it.  Today’s bottle is Domaine Filliatreau’s La Grande Vignolle 2005, a Cabernet Franc from the Saumur-Champigny region of the Loire Valley.  Here goes…

I’m sitting next to my glass right now, and as I tilt it and look in I’m seeing a fairly dense ruby red, which is surprisingly only slightly lighter in color than the Ed’s Red from Tuesday’s posting.  With the first sniff, I’m picking up dark cherry and a bit of leafy greenness.  Now for a sip…. wow, as I swish it around, I’m getting a strong blast of leafy greenness with only a touch of the dark cherry.  The green flavor is lasting all the way through the finish, which is lingering as I type. 

Nice balance: it’s light on acidity but also fairly light in alcohol, and the tannin gives it good backbone.  I’m really liking the soft, fruit-juicy texture.

Not bad at all!!

This is an unfiltered wine, so there’s a little bit of expected sediment.  

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at Plumpjack Wines in Noe Valley.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.