Spring is here, and we've got a great selection of bargain wines for your drinking pleasure!

We've always loved Francois Chidaine's wines - there's always a few bottles of  his high end organically farmed Chenin-based wines from Montlouis in my cellar at home.  So I was overjoyed when he came out with a line of estate grown, biodynamically farmed bargain wines from the Loire Valley!

This is our second time around with these wines. Francois Chidaine has been farming grapes and making wine in the Loire Valley for over 20 years, and is considered to be one of the best winemakers in the region.  The grapes for his wines are grown using  biodynamic farming and he practices a non-intervention wine-making style.  His wines show a combination of finesse, minerality and power.

First off, there's his Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc, chock full of citrusy minerality that shows surprising length and complexity.  Tons of ripe grapefruit with some chalky minerals, nice weight in the mouth with a very clean, ultra-refreshing finish.

His Rosé is a perfectly balanced blend of  50% each Pinot Noir and Grolleau.  There's a nose of gooseberries and some floral notes, followed by a medium-full bodied rush of flavors.. Excellent acidity and beautiful tension bring up the solid mineral core. Very refreshing, but surprisingly complex, this is from 100% estate biodynamically farmed vines.

While primarily known as a white wine producer, Chidaine makes one red wine, a biodynamically estate farmed blend of Cot (AKA Malbec), Cabernet Franc and Pinot d'Aunis (aka Chenin Noir) - Touraine Rouge. This is a lighter styled red, a perfect food wine, meant to be drunk lightly chilled (as you would a Beaujolais), with a chalky mineral nose with white pepper, red fruits on the palate, nice concentration and length.   Here's a red wine that will pair well  with Salmon or Halibut, Chicken or lighter fare.

Then, there's Chateau Baby, baby, a perfect example of a 2009 petit chateaux Bordeaux.  Primarily Merlot, with a skosh of Cabernet, this easy drinking wine has been flying off the shelves.  The pundits have been gaga over 2009 Bordeaux, and with good reason -  Parker called the 2009 vintage "poosibly the best vintage I've ever covered, in 32 years!" 

Baby is a great introduction to the immeasurable pleasures of Bordeaux - balance, structure, fruit and acid, all wrapped up in an easy to drink $10 package!

We loved the Domaine des Aphillanthes Vin de Pays Vaucluse.  After selling his vineyard fruit to the local bulk-wine co-ops for years, Daniel Boulle began bottling the quality juice under his own Domaine Les Aphillanthes label with great success. Glowing praise from Robert Parker have made finding his distinctive Côte du Rhône cuvées a serious challenge to find at retail and demand for quality biodynamic wine has exacerbated the supply even further.   Composed of nearly equal parts Merlot, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre, the 2009 Vin de Pays is dominated by its berry fruit, but it also offers notions of earth, spice box, and tobacco leaf. A wonderful wine!

Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Paradis is composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Grenache, and its dense purple hue is accompanied by a sumptuous bouquet of sweet new oak, blackberry liqueur, espresso, and a hint of spice box. This wine possesses amazing concentration, full-bodied richness, and a wallop of toasty, smoky wood. It should age effortlessly for 10-15 years.   A steal.  We bought all that we could find!

RECIPES

For the Whites:  Warm Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad with Wild Arugula and Olive Pesto Serves 4

This delicious Meditterrenean inspired salad also makes fantastic sandwiches layered between slices of fresh ciabatta or sourdough bread!

• 4 medium size ripe tomatoes, cut into 3 ½ thick slices, tops discarded
• 3 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
• ¼ cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• ¼ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons grated parmesan
• 10 ounces fresh goat cheese, such as Cana di Cabra
• 3 cups wild arugula
• ½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Lay the tomatoes on a baking sheet. Season lightly with sea salt and black pepper. Set aside while you make the pesto.

Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil in a blender. Process until smooth. Add the olives and pulse a few times to combine. Remove to a bowl and stir in the parmesan. Adjust the seasoning with sea salt and pepper. This recipe will make you more pesto than you will need. Spoon about a tablespoon of pesto on top of each tomato slice, spreading it out to the edges. Place in the oven and bake for about 12 minutes until the tomatoes soften and the pesto begins to bubble slightly. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.

While the tomatoes are resting; toss the arugula with the sliced fennel, lemon juice and balsamic. Season with sea salt and pepper.

To assemble: place 3 tomato slices each in a line on 4 rectangular salad plates. Crumble a good amount of goat cheese on top of the tomatoes. Top with the tossed arugula salad.

For the reds:  BBQ Pulled Pork Burgers with Corn and Cheddar Serves 4

This is like a bacon burger, but more refined; the burger gives class to the pulled pork, and a little jalapeño mayonnaise gives it a piquancy.

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper
• 8 ounces barbecued pulled pork
• 1⁄4 cup barbecue sauce
• 24 ounces ground top sirloin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Canola oil for grill
• 2 ears corn, shucked
• 1⁄2 cup grated Cheddar cheese, medium
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 hamburger buns
• 1 teaspoon butter, melted
• 1 head butter lettuce, separated
• 1 large ripe tomato, thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 4 dill pickles, halved

Combine mayonnaise with 1⁄2 teaspoon chopped jalapeño and set aside.
Separate the pulled pork into strands and toss with 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce. Combine beef with pulled pork and remaining jalapeño. Divide the meat into four, and shape into patties. Season outside of burgers with salt and pepper. Blanch corn in boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Cut kernels off cobs and place them in a small mixing bowl. Crush kernels lightly with a fork to release the liquid. Stir in Cheddar, and season with salt and pepper.
Oil the rack of a heated grill. When coals are glowing and covered with gray ash, place burgers on grill and cook for about 3 minutes. Turn, brush with barbecue sauce, and cook for another 3 minutes. Turn and brush with sauce once more; cook for another minute, or until internal temperature reaches 125 to 130 degrees on a meat thermometer.
Butter the bun halves and toast on the grill. Spread the buns with jalapeño mayonnaise. On the bottom half, layer lettuce, tomato, onion, and the burger. Spread a tablespoon of corn-Cheddar mixture over the burger, and top with the bun. Serve with pickles.

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