Cellar Notes

Whites from South France

User:Vl, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Often overlooked, the wonderful white wines from the South of France offer a totally new take on white wine flavors, at affordable prices.

Price key: $=less than $20 $$= $20-40 $$$=$40-60 $$$$=above $60
Quality key: * = decent wine ** = very good wine *** = superb wine ****= elite
VALUE = exceptional quality for the money

Famille Laplace “Le Vilain Petit Canard” France, NV ** ½ $ VALUE
(It means “The Ugly Duckling”; 100% mensang, dry with peach and honey flavors)

Lionel Osmin et Cie. “Villa Plage Blanche” Cotes de Gascogne ’22 **1/2 $ VALUE
(Sauvignon blanc dominated white blend, elegant fruit, bone dry)

WINE OF THE WEEK:
Tardieu-Laurent “Les Becs Fins”, Cotes du Rhone blanc ’22 **1/2 $
(Rich and round with good acidity, unique flavors, bone dry but with good fruit)

All of these wines can be purchased at Wells Discount Liquors

Cellar Notes

Al Spoler

Al Spoler, well known to WYPR listeners as the wine-loving co-host of "Cellar Notes" has had a long-standing parallel interest in cooking as well. Al has said, the moment he started getting serious about Sunday night dinners was the same moment he started getting serious about wine. Over the years, he has benefited greatly from being a member of the Cork and Fork Society of Baltimore, a gentlemen's dining club that serves black tie meals cooked by the members themselves who are some of Baltimore's most accomplished amateur cooks.

See stories by Al Spoler

Hugh Sisson

As General Partner of Clipper City Brewing Company, L.P., Hugh J. Sisson is among Baltimore's premier authorities on craft brewing and a former manager of the state's first pub brewery, Sissons, located in Federal Hill. A fifth generation Baltimorean, Hugh has been involved in all aspects of craft brewing.

See stories by Hugh Sisson