WineLovers Discussion Group

I tried over the period of several weeks four Picpouls:
1. Domaine Delsol Picpoul de Pinet Vd'OC: Coteaux du Languedoc (12.5%; www.FoncalieuVignobles.com) Foncalieu/
Arzens 2012: Pale yellow color; rather floral/aromatic rather stony/metallic/mineral quite perfumed
attractive nose; bit tart rather mineral/metallic/stony/river rocks slight floral/grapefruity flavor; med.
short somewhat tart rather stony/mineral/earthy finish; an altogether pleasant if quotidian Picpoul. $21.00
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2. Forlorn-Hope Picpoul HaugVnyd/Rutherford/NapaVlly (17 cs; 12.48%) 2012: Med. gold color w/ slight
clouding; rather aromatic/perfumed talc somewhat stony/mineral/earthy light floral/aromatic interesting
nose that's atypical of most Picpouls; lean/tart/hard rather earthy/stony/mineral light perfumed talc/
floral/perrfumed fairly hard/austere flavor; med.long light perfumed talc/floral fairly tart/hard/lean/
earthy/austere finish; speaks of a Languedoc white but doesn't have the bright/zippy character of Pinet
Picpouls; quite an interesting rendition of Picpoul. $25.00
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3. TablasCreekVnyd PicpoulBlanc PasoRobles (14.5%; www.TablasCreek.com; EB) 2012: Med. yellow
color; very strong perfumed/aromatic/floral/GB-like/Viog-like slight stony/mineral/wet rocks very
fragrant nose; tart bright/zippy quite floral/perfumed/carnations/honeysuckle/GB-like/peach blossom
light stony/mineral flavor; very long/lingering perfumed/honeysuckle/peach blossom/GB-like light
stony/mineral finish; much more perfumed/aromatic character than the '11; a lovely bright/zippy/
vibrant Picpoul.
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4. TablasCreekVnyd PicpoulBlanc PasoRobles (14.5%; EB) 2011: Med.yellow color; rather perfumed/
aromatic/floral strong stony/mineral/wet river rocks nose; tart bit softer/lusher bright/floral/peach
blossom strong stony/mineral lovely flavor; very long perfumed/floral/peach blossom rather stony/mineral/
earthy finish; less perfumed/aromatic less GB/Viog-like and much more of the stony/mineral side I expect
in Picpoul.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The first wine, a new one for me, I tried back in Maine last week. The last three, I tried out
in Paso a month ago afore NEB4. I was pretty sure the TablasCreek folks had not tried (nor heard of)
MattRorick's Forlorn-Hope Picpoul, so I took a btl out there for them to try. We (DarrenDelmore/
MarketingGuy, JasonHaas, and myself) tried them in the tasting room there one afternoon. The '12
was a tank sample and going to be bttld in a few weeks.
The two Tablas Picpouls were pretty much charactteristic of the TC whites; w/ lots of perfume and
fragrance and only hints of the stony/mineral/austere character Picpoul can often show. As expected,
the Forlorn-Hope was a more atypical rendition of Picpoul, a "vin de meditazione", a more rustic
version of Picpoul.
Tom

$21? $25? Picpoul, the wine of (if not kings at least) the upper middle class.

I saw the heading and thought, yes, most picpouls that I've had have been short and boring.

TomHill wrote:1. The first wine, a new one for me, I tried back in Maine last week....
Tom

I was in Maine last, visiting my sister in York Beach. Best time to go there - after Labor Day.

When DID the price of Picpoul go up?

I've had a number of fine examples over the past decade (only from Pinet)--never spent more than $15/bottle.

Thomas wrote:When DID the price of Picpoul go up?

I've had a number of fine examples over the past decade (only from Pinet)--never spent more than $15/bottle.

I paid $9 for the Cantegrils reported on elsewhere

Just purchased the `12 Domaine Delsol Picpoul for around $20 Cdn. Picpoul is not an easy type of wine to find up here.

Thank you for the notes, again, Tom.

I'm not surprised about the cost of the Tablas Picpouls, but $21 for a Picpoul de Pinet - a pleasant summer sipper, but no more - seems high, unless you ordered this bottle at a restaurant?

Also, just for informational purposes: Picpoul de Pinet was a sub-appellation of Coteaux de Languedoc, but it will now have its very own AOC/(P), without any mention of CdL.

Finally, if anyone has ever had a wine with any significant amount of Picpoul Gris, I would be interested to hear about it.