Dry and very crisp, this would pair well with a lentil salad. Recommended (88).
This is simple, one-dimensional, jammy, and oaken. It is also cloudy, not something you see as often in these days of high-quality winemaking. The fruit is slightly peppery, sour cherry and raspberry. The oak is not integrated, but seems to bear almost no relationship to the fruit, coming to the palate after the fruit and overwhelming it. Even at this price point, this cannot be recommended.
Green, rough, bitter—for a hard-working grape, carignan shoulders an awful lot of insults. And it’s true the prolific variety, traditionally used in reds from France’s Languedoc region, has produced a lot of undistinguished wine.
The nose is a load of blueberries, chocolate, tobacco - and fresh pecan pie, straight from the oven. All of a sudden, it was autumn, and I was diving into a moist pile of leaves in my front yard. That sweet, bold earth scent filled my mouth, and the finish had a plum and cherry chutney element that reminded me of a holiday in Chicago - trees lit up, walking the Miracle Mile and stopping for a hot apple cider.
The wine opens with huge jammy dark elderberry and black pepper. It has earth and brambles, giving it underlying depth...