French wines.

I have a sensitive palate when it comes to French wines.  But this morning I am a bit perplexed.

Last night we opened a bottle of this Ch. Ballan-Larquette Bordeaux.

It smelled like barn, hay, horses -- and tasted the same. Blech.

So this morning I decided I would write about it.

I don't think I've ever had wine in the morning. But I wanted to describe the barnyard aromas and taste so I poured a teeny, tiny bit in a glass so I could smell it and taste it for a description. And much to my surprise it had a lovely blackberry smell, with just the faintest whiff of earth. And the taste is fruity, like blackerries.

hmmmm. Where did the horse and barn go?  Maybe this wine just needed to open up and breathe.

Or maybe because I'm tasting wine at 8am I have a fresh palate? I wonder when the best time of day is to sample wines? I asked Don if he would smell it and taste it to confirm that I'm not crazy. He looked at me like I'm crazy. "No." was his short and firm answer. ooooooookay.

Maybe I could come to like French wines. I'll have to pull out the decanter and see what happens. This is exciting!!  Stay tuned for more updates on French wine.

And check this out! Here is the description on the BevMo website. I nailed it! Sweet.

GOLD MEDAL, 2009 LOS ANGELES INT'L WINE & SPIRITS COMP. A superb effort, the '07 Ch Ballan-Larquette is a classic Bordeaux; fine red fruit flavors with an accent of sweet earth.