I have been toying with this wine for the better part of 4
months, each time grasping a bottle, setting it in my cart only to go back and
set it back on the shelf. But after reading through the spring Total Wine &
More mailer, I finally decided to purchase a bottle. Rated 92 points by the International Wine Cellar, this wine
features strawberry and cherry aromas with nuances of plum and pepper wafting
from the rim of a ruby rimmed, dark purple pour. The wine is quite fruit
forward, with notes of plum, blackberry and raspberry and lingering hints of
cola and smoke. The mid-palate is nicely acidic, bringing up bright textures
and a slight pucker factor with subdued tannins and astringency. In my opinion,
this wine shines during the finish; pouring on loads of dark, smoky blackberry,
black currant and plum with vanilla, leather, pepper and something akin to
flower petals. These flavors swirl together mixing in a dark dance of dark
fruit, then savory spices and finishes with wood and smoke characteristics.
This is a medium bodied wine with cherry vanilla, oak and rose hips. This is a
wonderfully complex wine, though it tries to trick you and make you think it is
a nice fruit forward “California” red; in reality, it is a textured French red
with earthy characteristics that mask the relatively sweet fruits thus
transforming a potentially bland, one dimensional Rhone blend into something
elegant, compelling and very satisfying.
Overall, I am not a huge fan of Rhone blends as they tend to
be more fruit forward than I like; however this wine balances its sugars with
equal helpings of spice and earth. It makes up for its shortcomings by
providing a very broad range of flavors that blend nicely together leaving me
quite satisfied. I don’t often seek out “sweet” French reds, but this would
definitely make my list of must haves for rounding out your wine cellar. A
bottle of The Vac will please most discerning wine drinkers that stop by for
Coq au Vin, Beef Burgundy or a myriad of other savory dishes. It earns a good
QPR and a recommendation from me.
Hello Robert,
ReplyDeleteI just came across your blog and wanted to thank you for your description and I'm really happy that you like our wine!
best,
Stéphane Lombardi
The Vins
Thank you for commenting. I thoroughly enjoyed this wine. I failed to state this in my review, but this is definitely a wine that you want to keep in your cellar and pull out when you have guests over as it is very friendly while complex enough to satisfy a "wine snob". Absolutely loved your wine, and thanks again for the kind words.
ReplyDelete