La Vieille Ferme Wine -Not In Key West

I don't know about you guys, but when I miss a day of posting, I feel like "what did I miss out on ????" Anyhow, I have been out and about here in Oxford, Ohio and came across a little hidden wine shop called Main Street Gourmet. I met the shops' owner, Christopher, and we had a nice conversation about the wines he carries. I will write more later on Christopher's shop as he agreed to let me do some photo shooting in his shop. While I was in there, I picked up a few bottles of wine that I had read about but were not able to find until now.

On Sunday, my big salad day as you may have seen in Sunday's post, I unscrewed open a nice chilled bottle of 2005 La Vieille Ferme, Cotes-Du-Luberon while I was assembling dinner. On checking out the grapes that were used in this blend, I noticed 2 grapes I am not familiar with, or maybe I have not noticed them in previous wines from this region. Let me tell you about the grapes in this blend. It consisted of 30% Grenache Blanc, 10% Roussanne, 30% Bourboulenc and 30% Ugni Blanc. The 2 last grapes are my mystery grapes. So I put on my research hat and found that Bourboulenc is the principle white grape variety in Cotes-Du-Rhone. It's high acid content makes it popular for blending with other grapes, as in this wine. Since it is high in acid, it brings body and spice to the "party". My second mystery grape is Ugni Blanc, which my research found this grape to be the same as the Trebbiano grape. This grape is widely planted in France and is also used as a blending grape. Why you ask, because it has never been known to have any really distinguishing characteristics, as it is described as bland or neutral. So I guess we will never see this guy on its own!

Well, with all of these grapes combined, I guess it should be one nice wine. For $8.99 I found it a lovely wine to taste while assembling dinner and then out to the deck for a few sips (ha) before dinner. Actually, the La Vieille Ferme was not one of those wines that threw a party in my mouth. (I guess I have been drinking too many New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and have been spoiled with their directness). On tasting, pears is the fruit I pulled out and a touch of floral tones. It did have a nice body and a bit of creaminess to it which was nice on the palate. I think this creaminess lends itself to make it a nice aperitif wine. The color was quite golden and the alcohol content was 12.5%. Not a bad little wine for the price AND I did like the rooster and hen on the label!

Cheers!