Southern France continues to produce some of the best buys in the LCBO. In addition to the good selection on the General List, there are some nice offerings in the Vintages release this Saturday. The release has a special feature on the south of France, and there are many great values under and around $20.
One is Domaine Grosset Cairanne Côtes du Rhône-Villages 2004 ($17.95, LCBO No. 33852). It's a blend of grenache, syrah and mourvèdre that's rich in flavour and texture. The flavours are mainly black fruit and berries with peppery spice, and it's a great wine to go with well-seasoned beef or lamb.
Another to look at is Domaine de Roquemale "Les Terrasses" 2005 ($16.95, LCBO No. 42978), which brings together cinsault, grenache and syrah. The dark fruit flavours here are dark and sweet, and you'll easily pick up black cherry and kirsch. It's medium-bodied and not as powerful as the Domaine Grosset, but it goes just as well with grilled red meats.
Cracking the $20 barrier -- but only just -- is Château Lamargue Cuvée Aegidiane 2003 ($20.95, LCBO No. 33993). This is a big, bold blend of syrah and grenache that also delivers rich, sweet fruit like black cherry and plum. And like the first two, it goes well with grilled lamb and red meat in general.
It's not that these three wines taste the same, but they're in the same broad style and it's one I find very attractive: dry, with manageable tannins, fruit flavours that are good and solid but don't smack you in the face, and a balanced style that goes well with food. They're only three of a number of very good value wines from the south of France in Saturday's release.
This release also reminds us of the excellent Perrin Côtes du Rhône Réserve ($14.95, LCBO No. 363457), which is a Vintages Essential wine -- meaning that it's in stock on a permanent basis. This is quite a classic Côtes du Rhône red that's really good value. Vintage after vintage, it delivers solid fruit flavours with good complexity and enough tannins to make it interesting. It's a reliable partner for well-flavoured red meats -- and, God knows, there are few enough reliable partners out there!
There are also some new entrants from southern France in the LCBO's General List. They include the two Gérard Bertrand wines that are reviewed today, both in the deservedly popular Vin de Pays d'Oc category.
There's an interesting marketing idea here: Give each wine a number (easy to remember) and associate the numbers with personality characteristics. According to the guidelines, if you're an outgoing, spontaneous and communicative person, you should go for Number 3, a sauvignon blanc. But if you have a more intense, intellectual, sensual personality, you're more likely to enjoy Number 7, a chardonnay.
More numbers will hit the LCBO shelves over the next few months. No word yet as to which wine you should buy if you're an increasingly grumpy, middle-aged male. I refer to some of my friends, of course.
Four wines from the south of France today.