It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of my one-bottle posts, so today I wrote my title using a little Français for fun, and, because I had tasted a French Bordeaux! See below for my observations on this wine’s Color, Aroma, Taste, Conclusion and Notes.
I also tried the same wine with my dinner to see how it changed – something few wine 101ers may take the time to do but should!
It’s not that hard to think about your wine, and I hope that the next time you take the time to sip, you also take the time to note what you like. Once you do that you will know what kind of wine to ask for in a shop, or what to look for on your own.
2009 Chateau La Rousselle
14 percent alcohol
Appellation Fronsac, Bordeaux
First came my observation on Color: dark plum with a blood red to brown edge as it stretched from the center to the sides of my wine glass. Holding my index finger behind my glass I noted that it was very opaque.
Aromas that tickled my nose included sweet smoke, blackberry, a gamut of blue and black fruits: blueberry, black currant, as well as violets, clove, suede, eucalyptus and mint – all tempting me too quickly to taste!
My mouth was then filled with the Taste of the same blue and black fruits in a layer of dust (tannin) along with fig, raisin, black peppercorn, black olive, walnut…and later, with my Omaha steak, baked beans and garlic mashed potato cakes: the food definitely lessened the palate-drying tannin qualities of the wine; there was also less fruit and more spice.
Conclusion: Pleasant alone, pleasant with food, and I felt more than pleasant in giving it a resounding 90+ Eve Points.
My Notes: This was a wine we paid about $25 a bottle for, ordered as a future, then forgot about until this year. It sat at Woodland Hills Wine Company until WE CALLED THEM to ask about our order. (Yes, I thought they should have phoned us!) We had ordered six of this petit chateau (petit meaning a small winery) and six of a similar wine. (The second petit chateau did not taste anywhere near as nice as this one did. We tasted one, cooked with one, and donated the rest…stating on the auction form that none were worth more than $25 each in our opinion.)
On a Google search the wine can be purchased from Total Wine.
A Note on the wine in this, and other, Bordeaux
Simply explained this bottle did not tell me which of the Bordeaux grapes I may be consuming: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and/or Carménère. One website said it was Merlot.
About Chateau La Rousselle
They have a website, see if you can get it to load as I couldn’t: http://www.chateaurousselle.com
They also have guest rooms: http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/chateau-rousselle.en.html and great photos of the rooms as well as the vineyards.
