Cherry red. Small red fruits, a touch of spice and fruit stones. Light but flavourful; good acidity, clean taste and a balanced finish. Nothing complex, but nice and enjoyable right now on a salmon steak or grilled poultry.
Lots of flavour here. Straw-coloured with a nose of white peaches. Light on the palate, dry, with a thread of minerality behind the flavours of peach and peach pit with a citrus finish.
Showing persistent fine bead in the glass, this one offers inviting scents of white flowers with citrus and toasty brioche aromas. Clean lemon citrus flavour leads off on the palate, with green apple notes, good weight, refreshing but unaggressive acidity and a lick of mineral. A worthy competitor to non-vintage Champagne.
The official proclamation of the small AOC Seyssel in 1973 (only 220 acres under vine) was the first sparkling wine AOC in France after Champagne. This was très bon for Varichon & Clerc. Winemaking in Seyssel is recorded for the first time in the 12th century (1145) and further developed under the monks from the 14th century onward and where Varichon & Clerc was later established in 1901, making them one of the region’s oldest and most important wine houses making Traditional Method fizz. They were purchased by the Boisset family in the 1990s. This is a blend of Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Chenin, Chardonnay and Jacquère, aged for 15 months on the lees and given a dosage of 12 g/l. Though Brut, the sugar sticks out here, first on the nose (fruit loops) and then on the palate, slapping candied peach, light toast, dried mango on a sharp, crunchy palate. Though acidity is high, intention is valid and the framework is good, this falls a bit on the bittersweet orange finish. I'd love to see some of their drier fizz, where the fruit isn't jockeying for position with the RS. Best enjoyed with a good chill.
Ruby-garnet. Sweet plums, spices, blackberry jam and anise notes. A mouthful of dark fruits flavour-wrapping chewy tannins in the velvety mid-palate. Long finish refreshed by a touch of anise. Ready to drink.
Opens with fragrant floral and citrus notes and a whiff of almond. Lively fresh citrus flavours are balanced by brisk acidity and a lick of mineral, finishing crisply dry. An ideal pairing for shellfish and other light seafoods.
This is a mildly aromatic cream ale, medium-bodied with rounded texture and a robust hit of hoppy bitterness on the finish.