Alain Grignon, Carignan, ‘Vieilles Vignes’ 2022, Pays de l’Hérault, France
Carignan is not a typical supermarket wine so it’s not appreciated enough as it can make some rather excellent and cheap 😀 wine which this one from Majestic shows. Dry with plenty of blackcurrant and cherry flavours with a hint of spice and oak. It has soft tannins and decent lengh and at £8 it’s a decent mid week drinker.
35% Carmenère, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Carignan is the makeup of this Chilian blend. The vineyard has gone organic in the last few years and ages the wine for between 12 and 18 months in french oak. This is a dry red with grippy tannins that really stay around. Its a rich red with herbaceous, blackberry, blackcurrant, spice and coffee notes and flavours and a slate finish undertone. Its a strong blend that will get better with age, softening and mellowing. I had this with steak which was a great combination. but enjoyed it on it’s own.
Decanter gave this a Silver medal, that’s about right. It pretty good, although at £25 a bottle its a little overpriced but not excessively so.
Bouchon – Mingre 2015 red blend from Chile
I like Languedoc red wines, and at Eur13 a bottle this is an amazing cheap wine.
Does anyone need to know more? Made with Syrah, Grenache and Carignan there are aromas of jammy black fruits, pepper with full flavours and a great dryness and acidity balance.
Château Villerambert Julien Incarnat 2017, Languedoc, France
Its another french Languedoc red. I like wines from the Languedoc as they are not so pretentious as other parts of France, or the world for that matter.
Made with Carignan, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre the are aromas and flavours are quite big, you get loads of red fruit with herbaceous and spice undertones. On the taste you get blackberries coming through as well. The downside is that its a little short on the finish and I would have liked more black fruit.
At about £10 a bottle its a fair price for a reasonable bottle.
Col de la Ramière 2018, Languedoc, France
There are firm rounded tannins that hang around the mouth. It’s a fairly traditional style of wine from the Corbieres area.
At about Eur20 a bottle it’s a bit pricey for me. Good but not that good.
Château de Villemajou, Grand Vin 2017, Corbieres, France