devilc: Go Like Hell (Default)
devilc ([personal profile] devilc) wrote in [community profile] our_daily_vino2011-01-23 09:22 pm
Entry tags:

Chateau Calage , Coteaux Du Languedoc, AOC

This isn't going to be my usual write up wherein I type up my notes. This is a bottle of wine I pulled off the wine rack and poured because when my dinner guest arrived she'd had a horrible no good very bad day and forgotten to bring the bottle of wine she said she was bringing.

Fortunately, the rustic potato and vegetable casserole I made pairs with both whites and reds, and since I didn't have any whites in the fridge, I hunted through the rack for something I knew would be an easy drinking red and found this bottle from the La Mejanelle region of the Coteaux Du Languedoc.

This is a bottle of wine I picked up at my local Fresh and Easy. It's 40% Syrah, 40% Grenache, and 20% Mourvedre. Most of the French wine I've seen (and drunk) is Vin de Pays, so I was pleasantly surprised to see an Appellation on the bottle. (Which is what made feel confident that this was something I could serve to a guest.) But then again, the wines of southern France are so much less famous than Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Loire, that there are some real bargains to be found.

The color is a nice garnet.

The nose has a definite smoky cherry and raspberries.

The taste is cherries up front, but it's not a fruit bomb. The tart raspberries come in on the mid palate. The finish is nice and clean with some vanilla and a little spice. The mouthfeel is nice and silky. There are tannins but they don't overwhelm.

It tastes good and drinks easy. We finished this bottle and would've happily drunk another.

And at $8-10 it's a solid deal; I was shocked when I found out how inexpensive this wine is. It tastes like something in the $15 dollar range, which is what I thought I must have paid for it when I pulled it from the rack, based on the way it tastes and the fact that's it's an AOC wine, because at the $10 price point, you typically get a Vin De Pays.
monanotlisa: symbol, image, ttrpg, party, pun about rolling dice and getting rolling (wine and schiller)

[personal profile] monanotlisa 2011-01-24 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, that does sound lovely. I'm quite fond of decent Languedoc wines; as you say, you can get much better wines at better prices, relatively.
sid: (red wine)

[personal profile] sid 2011-01-24 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Even the blend of grapes sounds good, and your description is lovely. I'm sure your guest's day had improved by the time the last glass was poured. :-)