Sometimes You Win at $7.99 - Cotes du Luberon
Tracy Wallace
November 11, 2008
I never thought I would see the day when I would be drinking wine that was under $25 per bottle. Call me a snob, call me pretentious but there have been many a time that I thought I had found a low priced gem that where upon first sip, was just another bottle of plonk. Wine Hussy's Rule #37: I don't likes to choke down me wine.
So my $9 bottles ended up costing over $40 because I had to traipse my bottom back to the store and get a wine that I would enjoy. The cheap wine lover's walk of shame. Times have changed and my pocketbook is not brimming with coin as it once was so changes had to be made and this was one. I have recently been drinking the wines from the Rhone Valley and the south of France. As luck would have it I had a coupon for 10% off wines by the bottle for retail sale at Wine Steals (1243 University Avenue San Diego, CA 92103) so I thought I would try my luck and see if there was anything up to $20 from one of these two areas. Jackpot! Not only did they have this Cotes du Luberon (Provence) but there was a Croze Hermitage by an excellent wine producer (see upcomming entry The Hills are Alive ), a Gigondas (southern Rhone) and a few others from Languedoc-Roussillon (south of France).I chose several bottles but I was jonesing to try this 2004 Verget du Sud Cotes du Luberon for several reasons. Reason #1 was I hadn't yet had a Cote du Luberon. Reason 2 was the small price tag of $7.99 . The third reason was the screw cap. Because I was on foot I wanted to drink some of the wine at the wine bar and take the rest home. I was sure to have an accident with a re-corked bottle and a three mile walk home.
A Cotes du Luberon is either a red, white or rose and in this case the wine was a red. Reds are a blend of Grenache, Syrah along with a smaller portion of Mourvedre, Carignan and or Cinsault. By law the Grenache (Noir) & Syrah must account for a minimum 60% of the blend. It doesn't matter how Grenache and how much Syrah makes up the 60%. These days due to the popularity of Syrah it tends to take over the majority of the blend. Two of the three minor grape varietals (Carignan and Carmenere) are restricted to 20% of the final makeup.
When I unscrewed the bottle it sounded like I was opening a bottle of soda pop (not good) and the smell was true "gout de terrior" which may or may not be good. When I poured the wine in the glass bubbles collected at the side of the glass, really not a good sign especially since the wine is a still not sparkling. The bubbles clinging to the glass is the result of an unwanted second fermentation which makes the wine fizzy in the glass and prickly on the tongue. If I were at home I could suck the air out of the bottle with my VacuVin and wait a few hours to see if the wine would settle down. Unwanted second fermentations are quite common if the wine shop or transportation vehicles have been too warm or if there has been a significant fluctuation in temperature. The wine was under $40 per bottle so it really isn't likely that the boat or plane ride over from France was kept at a cool temperature and I know the truck ride within San Diego wasn't. It costs quite a bit to keep temperatures cool for cheap wine transportation. There just isn't room in the price of the product ($7.99) to pay for expensive temperature controlled transport.
I allowed the wine a few minutes to see if it would settle down and started to drink. I have to say I enjoyed it. Even though I couldn't classify this particular bottle as being technically sound and I would have been in the right to send this bottle back to see if I had better luck with a different bottle of the same wine. Since I work in the industry and I'm used to these little "nuances" I didn't find this flaw to be off putting. The wine was light to medium bodied and beyond the aromas of barnyard was a scrubby herbaceousnes. The wine definitely smelled of red fruits. Since I don't like to swish and make a show of tasting wine in public because it just screams "I want attention". I tried the wine the next day and it was even better. I got lucky because this is one of my favorite styles of wine.
From a personal stand point I don't care for wines that are chock full of huge, verbose, thick flavors. I know I'm in the minority of American wine drinkers especially during a time where most are enjoying wines that are full bodied blackcurranty flavored monsters. Sunday I opened a bottle of 2002 Ferrari Carano Tresor. Not the wine for me my friend. It smacked me in the face with chocolaty, blackberry,syrupy, lusciousness. No thank you! I was able to tone it down by pouring about 8 ounces out of the bottle and waiting two days. If I hadn't been so lazy I could have decanted it and waited a few hours.
You may like this particular Cotes du Luberon if you enjoy what I term mouthwatering, sour-sweet reds. It reminded me of tart cherries, raspberries with a rasping herby bite. If you like Italian reds made from native grapes- Sangiovese, Dolcetto, Barberra- or even Langhe Nebbiolos you have a match.
I tried to gather some information on the brand Verget du Sud because I give this wine the thumbs up but, the only thing I was able to come up with is the winemaker and owner is a negociant. In this case his role as negociant he purchases the grapes from outside sources and makes the wine under its name. I have seen a Mersault and a few other whites and a rose from this producer on the Internet and hopefully I will run across them in the stores. If you don't live in San Diego don't worry. You can find other Cotes du Luberons at low prices by visiting www.winesearcher.com
To see daily wine posts featuring wines that are $10 and under visit www.winehussy.blogspot.com. What makes this wine blog unique is that if lesser known grape varietals or wine regions are mentioned I share what better known wines these wines resemble ex. "If you like Zinfandel you will probably enjoy Malbec. You will also find tips on what to look for on the bottle so you never get a yucky wine. "Friends don't let friends drink icky wines." -Wine Hussy
So my $9 bottles ended up costing over $40 because I had to traipse my bottom back to the store and get a wine that I would enjoy. The cheap wine lover's walk of shame. Times have changed and my pocketbook is not brimming with coin as it once was so changes had to be made and this was one. I have recently been drinking the wines from the Rhone Valley and the south of France. As luck would have it I had a coupon for 10% off wines by the bottle for retail sale at Wine Steals (1243 University Avenue San Diego, CA 92103) so I thought I would try my luck and see if there was anything up to $20 from one of these two areas. Jackpot! Not only did they have this Cotes du Luberon (Provence) but there was a Croze Hermitage by an excellent wine producer (see upcomming entry The Hills are Alive ), a Gigondas (southern Rhone) and a few others from Languedoc-Roussillon (south of France).I chose several bottles but I was jonesing to try this 2004 Verget du Sud Cotes du Luberon for several reasons. Reason #1 was I hadn't yet had a Cote du Luberon. Reason 2 was the small price tag of $7.99 . The third reason was the screw cap. Because I was on foot I wanted to drink some of the wine at the wine bar and take the rest home. I was sure to have an accident with a re-corked bottle and a three mile walk home.
A Cotes du Luberon is either a red, white or rose and in this case the wine was a red. Reds are a blend of Grenache, Syrah along with a smaller portion of Mourvedre, Carignan and or Cinsault. By law the Grenache (Noir) & Syrah must account for a minimum 60% of the blend. It doesn't matter how Grenache and how much Syrah makes up the 60%. These days due to the popularity of Syrah it tends to take over the majority of the blend. Two of the three minor grape varietals (Carignan and Carmenere) are restricted to 20% of the final makeup.
When I unscrewed the bottle it sounded like I was opening a bottle of soda pop (not good) and the smell was true "gout de terrior" which may or may not be good. When I poured the wine in the glass bubbles collected at the side of the glass, really not a good sign especially since the wine is a still not sparkling. The bubbles clinging to the glass is the result of an unwanted second fermentation which makes the wine fizzy in the glass and prickly on the tongue. If I were at home I could suck the air out of the bottle with my VacuVin and wait a few hours to see if the wine would settle down. Unwanted second fermentations are quite common if the wine shop or transportation vehicles have been too warm or if there has been a significant fluctuation in temperature. The wine was under $40 per bottle so it really isn't likely that the boat or plane ride over from France was kept at a cool temperature and I know the truck ride within San Diego wasn't. It costs quite a bit to keep temperatures cool for cheap wine transportation. There just isn't room in the price of the product ($7.99) to pay for expensive temperature controlled transport.
I allowed the wine a few minutes to see if it would settle down and started to drink. I have to say I enjoyed it. Even though I couldn't classify this particular bottle as being technically sound and I would have been in the right to send this bottle back to see if I had better luck with a different bottle of the same wine. Since I work in the industry and I'm used to these little "nuances" I didn't find this flaw to be off putting. The wine was light to medium bodied and beyond the aromas of barnyard was a scrubby herbaceousnes. The wine definitely smelled of red fruits. Since I don't like to swish and make a show of tasting wine in public because it just screams "I want attention". I tried the wine the next day and it was even better. I got lucky because this is one of my favorite styles of wine.
From a personal stand point I don't care for wines that are chock full of huge, verbose, thick flavors. I know I'm in the minority of American wine drinkers especially during a time where most are enjoying wines that are full bodied blackcurranty flavored monsters. Sunday I opened a bottle of 2002 Ferrari Carano Tresor. Not the wine for me my friend. It smacked me in the face with chocolaty, blackberry,syrupy, lusciousness. No thank you! I was able to tone it down by pouring about 8 ounces out of the bottle and waiting two days. If I hadn't been so lazy I could have decanted it and waited a few hours.
You may like this particular Cotes du Luberon if you enjoy what I term mouthwatering, sour-sweet reds. It reminded me of tart cherries, raspberries with a rasping herby bite. If you like Italian reds made from native grapes- Sangiovese, Dolcetto, Barberra- or even Langhe Nebbiolos you have a match.
I tried to gather some information on the brand Verget du Sud because I give this wine the thumbs up but, the only thing I was able to come up with is the winemaker and owner is a negociant. In this case his role as negociant he purchases the grapes from outside sources and makes the wine under its name. I have seen a Mersault and a few other whites and a rose from this producer on the Internet and hopefully I will run across them in the stores. If you don't live in San Diego don't worry. You can find other Cotes du Luberons at low prices by visiting www.winesearcher.com
To see daily wine posts featuring wines that are $10 and under visit www.winehussy.blogspot.com. What makes this wine blog unique is that if lesser known grape varietals or wine regions are mentioned I share what better known wines these wines resemble ex. "If you like Zinfandel you will probably enjoy Malbec. You will also find tips on what to look for on the bottle so you never get a yucky wine. "Friends don't let friends drink icky wines." -Wine Hussy