began in a French table area and tried some Sancerres (made from Sauvignon Blanc), some white Burgundys (made from Chardonnay) and some white blends. He wants his wines to show a nice purity of fruit (Chardonnay) and as such uses large 600 liter (mostly neutral) barrels. Made from Chardonnay, this wine had an exploding bouquet.

And it is more expensive than the NV Renerdat Fache Bugey-Berdon, a lovely and interesting low alcohol sparkling rose wine. Like crushed rocks and a drop of honey, this well structured Chardonnay had lots of personality. I was lucky enough to taste some very interesting wines this month, many of them quite delicious and memorable.

2005 Jean Manciat Macon Vieille Vignes , price unknown (about $30) - old vine Chardonnay from the Maconnais, a Burgundian region known for value whites. NV Renerdat-Fache Bugey Cerdon Demi-sec Petillant , $16 - this is a low alcohol (~7.5%) effervescent rose colored wine from Bugey in eastern France. Impossible in this venue.

This is a tasting of an amazing portfolio of producers primarily from the Loire Valley, but also including one or two from Burgundy, Beaujolais, Languedoc-Roussillon, Bugey, Bordeaux, and Piedmont. Friday March 23 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Prospect Wine Shop and Greene Grape Wines (both will offer smaller versions of the tasting).

Sure, you can get a California Chardonnay or an Aussie Shiraz, but a Brooklynguy like me can find some real treasures there too, off-the-beaten-track stuff. emerged with a bottle of sparking red wine made by Alain Renerdat from Bugey (pronounce the "g" like a "zh"). Hello, I'm Brooklynguy. love Brooklyn. also love wine. For starters.I