The question
My boss is serious about French wine and I need to get her a hostess gift but I’m not rich. Any suggestions?
The answer
I hope your career is not riding on my subjective advice. Divorce-wise, I’m not exactly batting 1000 when it comes to recommending wines for weddings. But I digress.
As a general rule, I would neither skimp nor splurge. Find a medium price point you can live with. Say, $20 to $30? If the wine is very cheap, you’ll risk offending. If it’s too pricey, you could find yourself in a more precarious position: The boss might conclude she’s overpaying you.
Let’s assume she likes red, which is always the best colour choice when in doubt. My top pick would be something from the southern Rhône Valley, where the wines are almost always blended from several grapes, mainly syrah, grenache and mourvèdre, and feature local village names on the label rather than grape varieties. Two of the best appellations to consider are labelled Vacqueyras and Gigondas. Most of the wines are terrific and cellar well. They also customarily come in bottles that feature embossed lettering and coats of arms above the main label, where the shoulder meets the neck. Very impressive. No serious wine collector could turn her or his nose up at a good Vacqueyras or Gigondas. If you’re spending around $30, you’re likely getting a good wine.
Next, I might consider reds from farther south in the vast value region of Languedoc-Roussillon. Look for any of four top appellations, which – like Vacqueyras and Gigondas – should be listed prominently on the bottle: Corbières, Faugères, Minervois or Saint-Chinian. They feature a similar grape mix to southern Rhône reds.
Less dependable in terms of quality, cellar-worthiness and general appeal, yet very much for the connoisseur, are the under-sung reds of the Loire Valley. Specifically consider those made from cabernet franc, the lighter and more herbaceous parent of full-bodied cabernet sauvignon. Look for two key cabernet franc appellations, Bourgueil and Chinon. The former tend to be firmer and heavier while the latter tend to be softer.
If on the other hand you believe your boss prefers white wine, I would recommend either a Chablis, which is a great chardonnay appellation of northern Burgundy featuring many excellent wines for roughly $30, or Sancerre, the Loire Valley sauvignon blanc district that produces many great offerings around the $25 level.