Even after last week’s only okay white from Chateau Allegret, I was still interested to see what a red would be like from the same winery and region. Since 90% of wines that come from Bordeaux are red*, I was keeping my hopes up. The label was still just as lovely as what had come on the white, but I was trying not to be too enchanted by it this time around.
This wine consisted of a classic Bordeaux blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. These two vines originated in Bordeaux.* What better place to try these varietals from then? This wine was still from the Entre-deux-Mers, or “Between Two Tides,” region.
Since last week, I delved into how to read a Bordeaux label, I quickly tried to decipher this one and see if it was any sort of special bottling. Turns out it was only labeled with the region and “Vin de Bordeaux” which only meant it was a wine of Bordeaux.*
This wine was from Bordeaux, France and sampled on December 1, 2017. I noted the deep red color and took a whiff, which uncovered a heavy black tea scent with a little cinnamon tickling my nose. The first sip revealed some very heavy tannins. They coated my tongue and teeth. I was listening to “Be Mine” by The Alabama Shakes. The wine was earthy with a rocky taste that provided a nice kick of minerality even through the tannins. There were also tastes of leather and with those tannins, it almost felt like leather too. It brought out the herbal tastes in my veggie pizza and gave it a little more flavor than I had experienced with the same pizza before.
I gave this wine a rating of 4.5. Even though this wine was so tannic, I still really enjoyed it and it almost added a meat element to my veggie pizza, which amused me and made me like it more.
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