It's overcast and relatively cool this afternoon, so I thought this would be a fitting opportunity to break free of the white and pink wine rut I've been in lately. Not that I mind drinking the heck out of white and pink wines, but I do enjoy some variety. This might be surprising considering I'm writing about another French wine, but I truly do and I will try to review something soon that's not from the Old World. Anyway, this wine is distributed by Mariner and I got it at Whole Foods. If I'm not mistaken, I think I've also seen it at Old Port Wine Merchants. Embarrassingly, I forget how much I paid for it. I think it was somewhere around the $20 mark (a little under?), but hopefully someone will give the correct price in the comments.
The importer is Neal Rosenthal, another importer of mostly French wines (there's some good Italian stuff that he also brings in, as well as some Swiss stuff. I really like this importer. He focuses on artisanal producers and favors wines of elegance that truly express a sense of place. I think his wines are "French" in the way that we think about the elegant, subtle wines that many regions in that country can produce. I've included a picture of his back label in case any of that sounds interesting.This wine is an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and it comes from Provence, though it carries a Vin de Pays designation (more general, fewer restrictions) rather than an Appellation Controlee designation (more specific, more restrictions). The wine sees no oak, and I think that's helping to give it a great sense of freshness. In case anyone's not sick of reading my complaints on the subject, the wine is annoyingly sealed with a plastic imitation "cork". More on that in a previous post. The nose, while being of medium intensity, is rich and dark in profile. I get liqueur like aromas of black raspberry, black cherry, and black currant mixed with a grainy smell that reminds me of graham crackers. There's also a bit of a floral element and a minerality lying beneath the very ripe fruit. I also notice a touch of volatile acidity, coming across as a bit of vinegar and nail polish remover, but please understand that I am more sensitive than most people to this element and that it is so subtle that it's not bothering me. On the palate, the body is fairly light (medium minus) for a wine of such ripeness, but not at all lacking in flavor. The fruit is dominant on the attack, but the floral notes are not far behind, being more obvious to me than they were on the nose. I am thinking of purple flowers, maybe lavender. On the midpalate a bit of the stony minerality as well as some clean tasting dirt (as opposed to barnyardy dirt) come into play and balance the fruit nicely. I am noticing that the fruit is fresher on the palate than it smelled; not liqueur like but tasting like fresh juice in a really good way. Everything is joined on the finish by a good dose of that graham cracker element, which seems to intensify as the fruit fades. This wine evolves nicely on the palate and shows me that it is more "serious" than it might have smelled, given the distinct yet well integrated changes from attack to midpalate to finish, building in complexity through that progression. It's delicious enough to appeal to a wide range of consumers, yet interesting enough to appeal to nerds like myself. I might seem to repeat such sentiments often, but I assure you that I dislike many wines that I try. I try to review what I do like, so hopefully you don't think I'm too nice to the wines. Maybe I'll do a quick recap sometime of all of the wines I've disliked in the period of a couple of weeks. Please comment if that interests you or if you think that's a stupid idea. Anyway, very good wine and I'll score it 88 points. That's a buy for me, especially considering that if the nose were as nice as the palate I'd be into the outstanding range.
