Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009
Posted: 02 July '10 by Niall
Domaine Sainte Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009
With the sun splitting the skies and the temperature at a sultry 23° we settled back in our garden and opened a well-chilled bottle of Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009.
We’re not usually ones for Rosé – I’ve found that tasting the majority of cheaper wines was like drinking nail polish remover or they were so sweet they were like alco-pops – preferring to spend our hard-earned money on more tried-and-trusted whites.
Susan from DWS was adamant that we should give the Corbieres Rosé a chance – and how glad were we that we followed her advice and took a walk on the wine-tasting wild-side!
The Details
- The Wine: Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009
- Producer: Domaine Sainte-Eugénie
- Region: Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- Grape: Cinsault 80%, Grenache Noir 10%, Syrah 10%
- Alcohol: 13%
- Cost: £8.99
- We bought it in: Direct Wine Shipments (and is available online)
Tasting Notes
Thanks to the blend of grape varieties, the Corbieres Rosé just looks like a real thirst-quencher, having an appealing pale hot-pink colour with a bright lustre.
The nose is extremely fresh with a ripe peach, melon, and strawberry bouquet.
There are some strawberry notes on the palate, along with a hint of minerality and dried rosemary, which are common to the wines from Languedoc-Rousillon. There is nice acidity and a pleasing, dry finish.
Our Verdict
A real Summer-in-a-glass type of wine here, just perfect for a refreshing tipple on a hot day.
Whether you’re a Rosé lover or not you should give the Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009 a try – your taste-buds will love you for it!
Our rating: 3 out of 5.
Where can you buy it?
You can find the Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009 at:
Direct Wine Shipments
5-7 Corporation Square,
Belfast
BT1 3AJ
T: 028 9050 8000
E: shop@directwine.co.uk
W: www.directwine.co.uk
You can also find DWS on Google Maps.
You can also buy the Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé 2009 online.
Other information
A few people have asked whether Rosé is made from blending red and white wine. This is a bit of an urban myth.
The majority of Rosés begin life just like red wines – the red grapes are crushed and placed in a fermenter. Rather than spending two or three weeks with the grapes skins in contact with the juice, the skins are removed after a short time (this could be from a few hours to a couple days depending on the type of grape and the style of wine that the winemaker wants). This brief skin contact allows enough colour leach into the wine and turn the colour pink.
Another technique is to drain off some of the juice from a red wine early in the fermentation and then place it into own fermenter to finish the process. The process is called “Saignée” (French: “to bleed”).
Categories: Rose Wine > Wine Reviews
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Heritage Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Posted: 27 May '10 by Niall
Heritage Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
After a brief foray into white wine territory (see our review of the Picpoul de Pinet 2007) we’re back with a classy red from the New World, a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from South Australia: the Heritage Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.
The Heritage Wines winery is a small family-owned business located in the Barossa Valley and run by Steve Hoff and his wife, Christine. They produce a small range of varietal wines, typically made from their own 20 acre vineyard or from grapes purchased from selected, low-yield vineyards in the area.
This particular wine was produced from grapes grown by their neighbours, Peter and Anita Frazer.
The Details
- The Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006
- Producer: Heritage Wines
- Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia
- Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alcohol: 15%
- Cost: £15.99
- We bought it in: Direct Wine Shipments (and is available online)
Tasting Notes
Wines produced in hotter climes typically are more full-bodied given that the grapes are more ripe than in Europe. You certainly find that with the Heritage Cab Sauv.
A deep, dark red in colour, it has a wonderfully intense aroma with lots of black fruits, sweet roast vegetables, and cassis on the nose.. with not a little spice in there too.
The taste doesn’t disappoint either – a full-blooded red with powerful blackberry and licquorice flavours, with more subtle herb and chilli notes.
Good, firm tannins and acidity with a velvety texture which, together with the long and pleasant finish gives the wine an opulent character.
Our Verdict
A very classy red from Australia with good structure, lots of juicy dark fruit, and well-balanced.
Extremely drink-able.
Our rating: 4 out of 5.
Where can you buy it?
You can find the Cabernet Sauvignon from Heritage Wines at:
Direct Wine Shipments
5-7 Corporation Square,
Belfast
BT1 3AJ
T: 028 9050 8000
E: shop@directwine.co.uk
W: www.directwine.co.uk
You can also find DWS on Google Maps.
You can also buy the Heritage Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 online.
Other information
You can click here to visit the Heritage Wines website.
Categories: Red Wine > Wine Reviews
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Picpoul de Pinet 2007
Posted: 30 March '10 by Niall
Picpoul-de-pinet 2007
Just before our long weekend in Paris, Kelly and I thought that we should immerse ourselves in a little French culture and try the Picpoul de Pinet 2007.
The Picpoul de Pinet 2007 is a lively young white wine from the Languedoc-Rousillon region of South-West France. Although not renowned for it’s outstanding wines in the past, the area has reduced the amount of wine it produces in favour of concentrating more upon quality in recent years. While there is still a lot of variation, Languedoc produces good, reliable wines at a pocket-pleasing price (by and large).
The Details
- The Wine: Picpoul de Pinet 2007
- Producer: Domaine des Lauriers
- Region: Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- Appellation: Coteaux du Languedoc
- Grape: Picpoul Blanc
- Colour: White
- Alcohol: 12.5%
- Cost: £7.99
- We bought it in: Direct Wine Shipments (and is available online)
Tasting Notes
The Picpoul de Pinet has a pale-straw colour and a slightly honeyed aroma with some grass and citrus thrown in for good measure.
As you’d expect from a region that has a lot of limestone in the soil the taste has a mineral edge, and has delicate lemon and pear tones. The wine is light-bodied with a little acidity which makes it feel clean and crisp on the palate.
The finish is a pleasing medium-length one – just enough to leave you with a fond memory of the wine rather than a cloying aftertaste.
Our Verdict
On tasting the wine we both thought that this would be a perfect buy for the summer – it’s refreshingly light and crisp with subtle green-fruit flavours.
Although the wine is very pleasant to sip on it’s own, the Picpoul would go extremely well with fish, shellfish or chicken.
Ideally serve chilled but not too cold, otherwise you’ll mask the finer points of the wine.
Similar to a good Muscadet or even a Sancerre, but without the price-tag.
Summer BBQ, anyone?
Our rating: 3 out of 5.
Where can you buy it?
You can find the Picpoul at:
Direct Wine Shipments
5-7 Corporation Square,
Belfast
BT1 3AJ
T: 028 9050 8000
E: shop@directwine.co.uk
W: www.directwine.co.uk
You can also find DWS on Google Maps.
You can also buy the Picpoul de Pinet 2007 online.
Other information
This particular wine won the Silver Medal at the International Exhibition of Agriculture, which aims to select and reward the best traditional French products.
The French can talk at length about “terroir” – the environmental factors that influence the quality and complexity of a wine. Although this wine is from Languedoc-Rousillon, an area with a wide variety of micro-climates and landscapes, the appellation for this wine is the sought-after “Coteaux du Languedoc”. A “coteaux” is a hill covered in vines.
Categories: White Wine > Wine Reviews
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Wine Review: Mouton-Cadet Bordeaux Rouge 2005
Posted: 01 February '10 by Niall
Mouton Cadet 2005
Kelly and I picked up this Mouton-Cadet 2005 from our local Sainsburys off-licence a few weeks ago – although we’d never tried this particular red before we thought we were on safe ground: a Bordeaux red; a young wine from the famous Baron Philippe de Rothschild; and it was also on offer, one of the frequent Sainsburys discounts being reduced to £5.00.
The Details
- The Wine: Mouton-Cadet 2005
- Producer: Château Cadet, Baron Philippe de Rothschild
- Region: Bordeaux, France
- Grape: 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc
- Alcohol: 13.3%
- Cost: £5.00 (on offer – normally £5.99)
- We bought it in: Sainsburys
Tasting Notes
The first thing that you’ll notice when pouring the Mouton-Cadet is the colour – an appealingly intense burgundy or dark cherry which promises great things to come. As you’d expect this colour carries to the rim of the wine, suggesting a young wine.
The bouquet matches the appearance with dark cherry and blackcurrant aromas, with some spice and a little vanilla in there for good measure.
Perhaps a little lighter-bodied than more expensive wines from the region, it is still full of ripe dark fruits and powerful tannins. The Cab Sauv and Cab Franc give the wine more complexity than might be suggested by the price tag. Although slightly tart, the Mouton-Cadet 2005 is fairly smooth and well-balanced, lingering pleasantly on the palate.
Our Verdict:
A pleasant wine that is suitable for everyday drinking, one that you’d be happy to enjoy alone or to serve to friends with a meal – not necessarily one for impressing, mind you.
At the price, particularly when discounted, you’d be hard pressed to find a much better alternative. Buy it when you can – Sainsburys typically stock a wine for a while and once gone it’s never seen again.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Other Information:
The Mouton-Cadet 2005 really benefits from being decanted and left to breathe for an hour or so – the bouquet and taste will only develop and reveal the complexity of the wine.
Mouton Cadet is the biggest-selling Bordeaux in the world and is the staple offering from the Baron Philippe de Rothschild house. It is not sophisticated or refined enough to be called a “Chateau Mouton Rothschild” – instead, it is classed as a “Mouton Cadet” (cadet meaning younger son in French)
Categories: Red Wine > Wine Reviews
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Wine Review: Sangre de Toro 2006
Posted: 21 October '09 by Niall
Wine Review: Sangre de Toro 2006
On a horrible wind-swept and rainy evening, Kelly and I thought we’d cheer ourselves up with a cheeky bottle (or two!) of wine. Amazing how wine can do that.
The Torres wines are firm favourites of ours: consistently good flavours, and not too hard on the pocket. And depending on your choice, you also get a toy – a kind of Kinder Egg for adults!
With the plastic bull safely stowed away, we opened our bottle of Sangre de Toro 2006..
The Details
- The Wine: Sangre de Toro 2006
- Producer: Don Miguel Torres
- Region: Castilla y León, Spain
- Grape: 65% Grenache, 35% Carignan
- Alcohol: 13.5%
- Cost: £6.49
Tasting Notes
The wine is a pleasant deep cherry-red in colour, and the spicy cinnamon and berry notes are immediately noticeable on opening the bottle.
In terms of flavours there are the usual forest-fruits in there (and a lot of them), but also something a little sweeter.. strawberries maybe. With all of this going on, it’s a nicely balanced wine – savoury, with a slightly sweet edge.
The tannins aren’t particularly smooth and there is a bit of an alcoholic kick – a solid, rustic, substantial wine.
Food Pairing:
This wine would be well-paired with any meaty foods: red meats and game, and roasts/stews/casseroles in general.
Our Verdict:
The Sangre de Toro 2006 isn’t a particularly complex wine, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s very “gluggable”, has plenty of flavour, goes particularly well with food, and with the £6.49 price-tag, it’s hard to find a better entry in the “everyday” category.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Other Information:
“Sangre de Toro” means “Blood of the bull” – and explains the plastic bull attached to the foil.
You can click here to visit the Torres website.
Categories: Red Wine > Wine Reviews
