This wine is flat out delicious with impressive intensity, purity, and character. And you won’t find a better value.
The aromas are bold and rich showing blackberry and cherry, dusty earth, licorice and violets.
Dense and concentrated on a medium plus frame, loads of peppery fruit are wrapped in vibrant acidity giving the wine remarkable midpalate lift. The mouthfeel is sinewy yet supple, the finish a feast of mineral notes and char that sustains the intensity and gives the wine a rustic finale after plying you with flair and precision. The tannins stay in the background and allow the tang of acidity to assert itself, the fruit far more prominent than wood.
Boisterous and brash with an attitude but a soft heart, this is an early Springsteen wine. Pair with Badlands.
Notes: Cotes Catalanes is the geographic indicator for wines made in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France that are made outside the existing AOP vinification requirements. The Lafarge family has been making wine here for two centuries. This wine is aged for 12 months, 50% in concrete and 50% in French oak demi-muids.
Score: 92
Alc: 15%
Price: $18
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