This one came highly recommended from Cambridge Wine Merchants (thanks Stewart!). So I thought I’d give it a go. It’s highly recommended, and relatively affordable. And it has a fair amount of age on it. Apart from that, I tasted it not knowing much about it.
In the glass
Dark. Although not quite as dark once I think to turn the lights on. Yeah, I worry myself sometimes, too. Still dark, dull red / brick fading at the rim. I’d go with it being dark, but if you wanted to call it something like a serious medium in terms of depth, I wouldn’t argue with you. Perhaps roll my eyes.
I realise in the first photo it actually looks more like it should be medium. But see the added photo at the bottom for why I went with dark at the end.
The nose
Something. Something I can’t quite distinguish. Given enough time to let it breathe, maybe some sort of black cherry-ish sort of thing on the nose?
The palate
My first reaction is: Wet. I don’t know why, it just is. Maybe I’m expecting something heavier from the colour and age, but it strikes me as having less viscosity than I was expecting. Hence, wet. Which makes sense to me anyway.
More specifically, it’s dry, as opposed to sweet. It’s still wet, as the spills on my notebook can attest. It has a slight dustiness to it, but in a not-unpleasant way. Long finish. Dark fruits, but nothing clearly discernible. There’s enough acidity to qualify as a supporting act, which works well.
It’s woodsy. I’m not going to go full forest floor on it. Other people with better retronasal olfaction may find that, but I don’t.
It’s a wine for contemplating.
Something about the texture that draws me in. The more I return to this wine, both on the day of the original tasting and the following one, it’s all about the mouthfeel. I can’t quite figure out how to describe it. Definitely not satiny smooth. But not excessively rough, either. More like corduroy than velvet. Not that I make a habit of licking either one, you understand. Whatever it is, it’s intriguing and very appealing. And, oddly, runs against the first impression of ‘wet’ – it definitely has body and substance.
Rating
Yummy-plus. It’s wine on the visuals. Not a whole lot more to say. Great wine. Definitely outperforms its price-point by a lot.
Sustainability
Wild yeasts, apparently organic, but not certified. Can’t find a website for them, so not a lot more information.
The technical info
14% ABV, Carignan, Grenache, Mourvedre, £16.99 from Cambridge Wine Merchants