Accompanied:  Chicken, courgettes, tomato pasta

Sealed: Natural Cork

Abv. 14%

Tasted: August 29, 2009

Label Description:

“An acknowledged ambassador of the Mediteranean lifestyle and owner of some of the region’s finest estates , Gerard Bertrand is convinced of the uniqueness of its different terroirs located in the most renowned villages. The most ancient presence of mankind in Europe was in the amazingly beautiful and preserved landscapes of the Tautavel Village in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains. Wines have been made there since ancient times and their style is truly unique: full bodied with soft and round tannins, elegant notes of ripe fruit (blackcurrant, blackberries) and soft spices, long finish. Best served 18C with roasted peppers, roasted meat and ripe cheese.”

Varietals: Grenache/Syrah/Carignan

RATING: Very Satisfied

One of the reasons I like to include the back label descriptions is because sometimes they are very accurate, and sometimes it seems the wine in the bottle was put there by mistake as the description doesn’t seem to fit at all. This is one of those times where the description is very accurate: the wine is a dark garnet (not black but dark red with slightly lighter red ring on the glass). Full bodied with some spice, nice roundness in the mid palate, solid fruit but interesting complexity with a solid, long finish. Not the best choice of food to have with it, but a very nice wine at a very reasonable cost (approximately $10).  Definitely recommended.