Last week, the SG’s shared some of our favorite French wines for Bastille Day. But instead of celebrating with one of those, I headed to Total Wine on the French holiday to check out their picks at their monthly consumer wine education class. This month, the theme was a “Tour de France.”

Palm Beach Gardens store Wine Manager Theodora Snyder started us off with a few sparkling wines from Champagne. After an informative lecture on how Champagne is made and a bit of a debate about how many bubbles there are in a bottle (I’ve found answers online varying from 50 million to 250 million), we got to tasting.

My favorite sparkler by far was the Mailly Brut Reserve Grand Cru ($39.99), a blend of 75 percent pinot noir and 25 percent chardonnay. 100 percent of the grapes used to make this wine are sourced from Grand Cru vineyards within Mailly. The wine had a light golden color and a fresh, slightly creamy nose of sweet apple and pear. On the palate, the wine maintained a lovely balance of sweet fruit and zesty acidity. It had a slightly round and smooth mouthfeel while still remaining crisp, clean and dry and had an elegant, long finish.

Next up was a simple summer sipping rosé, the 2009 Fontanyl Provence Rosé ($11.99). This was a fresh and uncomplicated wine with aromas of meadow flowers and sweet berries. It was light and fruity with a clean, dry finish. The wine reminded me of a breezy floral sundress I might wear to a picnic in a strawberry patch.

My favorite still white wine was the 2008 René Sparr Pinot Gris Excellence from Alsace ($19.99). The wine was a light greenish-hued straw color and had a very aromatic nose of white flowers, sweet apple and honeysuckle with hints of lime and stony minerals. The citrus came out a little more on the palate, along with a racy acidity that felt almost like a small electric shock, just to let you know this wine was serious! It was very crisp, clean and dry with a long finish. There was really a lot going on in this wine and it kept me coming back to see what I’d find next.

Even though we tried a few really nice white wines, I was excited to get to the reds. Our first was a 2007 Seguin Gevrey Chambertin ($39.99). The wine was a deep ruby color with aromas of black cherries and black raspberries, cola and earth with a light toastiness. On the palate, the wine tasted young with a high acidity and fairly firm tannins for a pinot noir. I probably wouldn’t drink this now, but it is a nice one to keep in the cellar for a few years until it softens.

I’d previously tried and bought a bottle of the 2006 Clos St. Michel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée ($44.99) last year at another Total Wine class. That bottle is currently in my cellar waiting for a special occasion. So it was a treat to try it once again and see how it tasted almost a year later.

This wine was a deep garnet, almost black color in the glass. That color was a clue to intense dark fruits captured within the lovely hue. On the nose, this wine exploded with black currant, black cherry and cassis, along with dry earth, smoke and black pepper. On the palate, the wine was equally deep in flavor and full-bodied with stewed fruits, smoke and spice coming through on the palate, mouth coating, firm tannins and an everlasting finish. This was one powerful wine. I’m even more excited for the moment I’ll open my own bottle.

We tried a few different Bordeaux wines, and they were all good, but there was one that was truly great. And that was the 2006 Château Léoville Barton ($79.99). WOW. I think I babbled incoherently for more than 5 minutes after the first sniff. I’m still babbling, actually. What a wine!

Léoville Barton is one of five 2nd growth, or Deuxièmes Cru, wines from the region of St. Julien on Bordeaux’s Left Bank. Since this region has no first growth-classified wines, it’s considered one of the five best wines from the region. Boy, was it ever.

The first note I wrote after inhaling was “I’m melting!” This was a regal and elegant wine. In the mouth, it felt like the finest silk while still maintaining the power of a nobleman. It was so perfectly balanced, I found it very difficult to pull out any one smell or taste. It was like listening to a symphony orchestra and trying to pick out an individual violin. And the wine was so sublime, so heavenly; I honestly didn’t want to pick it apart. I just wanted to enjoy it.

~ Dry (J. Gwen Berry)