The Maison Barboulot Marsanne-Viognier 2017 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive sourced from vineyards near the Black Mountains in the Languedoc region of Southeast France (along the Mediterranean Ocean). Maison Barboulot is a brand name, there is no Maison Barboulot estate and the label is faux French. It is actual French writing, but none of it is anything that you would find on a typical French wine label. It says thing like “bottled with care“. and “you should see my Chateau”, or “I like White wine“. The label does provide some atmosphere on your table, just hope nobody there can read French. This White wine blend is classified an IGP Pays d’Oc wine, which means the wine is typical of the Languedoc region, but the wine was produced to less stringent rules than the AOC classified wines. There are many reasons why a wine would be classified IGP rather than AOC, could be as simple as to where a vineyard was located and valued priced wines are often in the IGP category. Marsanne (70%) and Viognier (30%) are a typical wine blend of the Languedoc. The alcohol content is 12.5%. The label is fake French, lets see if the wine inside the bottle is the real deal.
The color is clean, clear, pale, golden yellow. The nose is pretty, tropical fruit, peach and pear, lemon, melon, grapefruit, citrus cough drops, and dried pineapple pieces. This is a crisp White wine with a touch of sweetness that finishes dry. It tastes of lime, lemon, peach and melon, along with green apple. The mid-palate adds orange zest, pear and tart Fuji apple. The acidity is nicely balanced, this wine sips well and is a food wine, again don’t bring it to a BYOB where the waiter can read French. The finish is long and rather tasty.
The Maison Barboulot Marsanne-Viognier 2017 is a solid summer sipper especially considering the $5.99 price tag, I take back all the mean things I said about it’s faux label. If you can give me a 6 buck wine that is interesting to drink, you can do whatever you want on the front label, I promise not to get snarky. This does not taste like the same old same old, but it’s not from outer space either, the flavors are relatable. If you are in a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio rut, the Maison Barboulot is an affordable and tasty change of pace.
