INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 FRANCIS BLANCHET POUILLY-FUME 'CUVEE SILICE' $22.99

Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

Looking at the extended forecast, and judging by the crocus blooms sprouting up everywhere, I 'think' it's safe to start mixing in some more Spring-like wines to the Insider's Pick repertoire. This wine is a long-time representative in the store, often being our 'best buy' offering for a Pouilly-Fume. I have a hazy recollection of this being one of the first -if not 'the first'- Pouilly-Fume I was recommended to try when I first began learning about French wines from the original staff at Wine Warehouse in the '90s, broadening my focus from the craft beer scene. The rest is history. Still made from the same 3.25 acre plot of vines, still a pure and classic representation of Sauvignon Blanc from the region, and still an outstanding relative value. Clear, pristine cool fruit aromas on the nose with touches of gunflint and minerality that always seem to mark good Pouilly-Fume. The palate is quenching with cool white fruits a gain and lime, a nice tingle of acidity but not as piercing as the chalky notes from Sancerre can be from across the river. This is a prettier, more reserved and quiet style of Sauvignon Blanc, but still fantastic and delicious with a multitude of Spring dishes and almost anything with a dollop of goat cheese as an ingredient.

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