“It is very difficult to eat poorly in France.” While certainly not impossible, I stand by that statement that I made a while ago. Sure, you can search out fast food joints or rather seedy looking restaurants, but by and large, the “average” restaurant in France puts out way better food than the “average” restaurant in the U.S.

It is easier, however, to drink poorly in the country, but with a bit of effort, most restaurants that put even the slightest interest in their wine list, no matter how small, will have a gem or two that will certainly add to the meal.

After a week on the road in a rather remote part of France, I still stand by those words. But after I try bottle after bottle of inexpensive local wines, I am starting to hedge on the “easy to drink poorly” (at least when it comes to wine) portion of the assertion as these inexpensive, local wines were fantastic.

I was at the end of my week cycling across the southwestern part of France, starting in Souillac and finishing in Nîmes. Here are three more wines I enjoyed with their respective dinners on the trip.

2023 Domaine des Cabridelles Pierres Blanches Chardonnay, Gorges du Tarn, Ispagnac, Pays d’Oc IGP, France: Retail 13€, Restaurant 26€. I was in the relatively small town of Florac, the terminus of my week-long bike trip through the Cévennes, having amassed over 300 miles in seven days. The legs were tired, the belly was empty, and I decided to splurge. No, this bottle was not all that expensive, but the meal was the priciest of the week and this wine worked perfectly with both the escargot and the sea bream. As for that last part, why do we not see any sea bream (la daurade, in French) in the U.S.? It is a solid fish. As for the wine? I had been in the region for a week and cycling around this producer all week (unwittingly) but when I saw it, I had to try it. The descent into the Gorges du Tarn is one of the more spectacular rides I have done, and this wine did its best to do it justice. Tons of bright citrus, tons, on the nose, more lime than lemon, and perhaps more of a grated rind than fresh juice. The palate is tart, even quite tart, on the palate with all that citrus. If this wine sees any oak, it is not for long and it’s certainly not new, a wine to convince even the most die-hard hater of the variety to give it another look. I normally eschew the unoaked version of Chard, but this wine, on this day, in this spot, was just what I wanted. Excellent. 92 Points.

2021 Domaine de l’Ostal Estibals, Minervois, France: Retail 18€. Restaurant 35€. 60% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 20% Carignan. Under cork. Another arduous day for me. It began in the rain, in Florac, in the middle of the Cévennes, where I had to rise early to catch some breakfast (the French do a lot of things right when it comes to food, but breakfast is not one of them–give me some scrambled eggs and a bit of meat any day), then stuff my bike back into its carrier for first an hour bus ride to Alès (about which I know exactly nothing), and then a train ride to Nîmes, which I had visited for all of 17 minutes about two decades ago. Getting my bike onto the bus (more of a glorified van), actually, took some doing; the driver was reluctant to allow me to place the admittedly large “bag” in the back row of seats as she indicated she did not know how many people would want to get on the 25-passenger “bus”. After a bit of hand wringing, she relented with a shrug of disdain. A total of five people boarded that “bus” for the one-hour trip (that cost 2€–who said the French were bad at economics?). I eventually got to Nîmes where it stopped raining long enough to visit the amphitheater (very cool) and La Maison Carré (meh). I also found one of the few restaurants open; despite being a rather large city (population around 150k), most of the restaurants in town follow the provinçal model of being closed on Sunday and Monday. I dodged the raindrops and made it to a French version of tapas where I had some lovely croquettes and a bull sausage (saucisse de taureau), both were excellent. As was this Minervois, an appellation in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France, just to the west of where I was seated. Fruity and intense, but in a good way, the dark and red fruit combine to battle the spice and tartness of the wine (again, a good thing). This is not the most sophisticated wine produced in France, but I can’t currently think of another that would pair better with my bull sausage. Excellent. 91 Points.

Minervois, Bull Sausage.

2023 Domaine Yoan Rega Le Bonbec Rosé, Natural Vin de Gard IGP, France: Restaurant 32€. “75% presse directe de Syrah, 25% Saignée de Merlot-Grenache; 15% de Grenache en macération carbonique.” OK. A lot going on here. It was my second night in Nîmes and I had planned to go back to the restaurant which I enjoyed the previous night. But, of course, it was closed. So then I headed to a wine bar which had a limited menu, but I was more than ready to eat there. Except. No one seemed all that interested in taking my order. So, I wandered into a natural wine bar (a topic unto itself) and asked the server what I should try. We eventually settled on this. She said it was a saignée, the website said it was 25% saignée (Merlot and Grenache) and 75% True Rosé Syrah. Fine, whatever. And it’s “natural” which every other wine is as well, but that has turned into a political discussion, so I will leave that one alone. As for the wine? A bit funky, for sure, but with good, ripe fruit, plenty of heft, and enough acidity to hold it all together. Not my style of rosé; I would certainly classify it as “rustic” but it is quite good, and I am entirely happy with the suggestion and my purchase. Bravo. Excellent. 91 Points.