Mwah-hah....the....French.
We've been threatening to pull the trigger on the Cahors section of this world for a bit now, and every time we step up to the ledge we pull back. It's not that we have a dislike for the origin of this fine grape, but our experience and our lanes are firmly in Argentina and, to a lesser degree, Chile and the United States. It's just not in our nature to speak with any authority where we have none. Our aim here, however, is to rate each bottle on its own merit, and not against anything else. So with a bit of courage and a whole hell of a lot of unearned confidence, we go French for a bit.
We're not going to waste time rehashing the whole: what's the difference between the two? So we will just link to this excellent Wine Folly article explaining in depth.
Even though this is not French, I feel the need to put this here as an audio palate cleanser between the introduction and the actual review. There's also no bottle shot with this review, because OW up top is more than enough beauty to admire.
I can't find a tech sheet on this wine, which makes it kind of exciting, and the most minimal of information I can glean is that this is about 90% Malbec with the remaining being Merlot.
Nose: Dark ruby color with a complex combo of red plum, strawberry, coriander, black pepper, and with some time, faint charcoal smoke. Carries on in this vein for some time and then the sweeter notes come through. A bit of red licorice rope on the third or fourth pass and twenty minutes.
Palate: Pretty much as advertised on the nose, although the fruit pushes forward at first and the savory notes crest as I swallow. Light tannins and quite a bit of acidity.
Finish: Medium length. The sweetness breaks and there's a slightly bitter note at the finish with the smoke making a bit of a reappearance towards the end. A bit dry and straightforward.
It's a bit peculiar that something which started off with such strong complexity really didn't live up to its promise towards the finish. Maybe I needed to let this sit a bit longer, or perhaps let it age a year or so. Not a bad wine, but also nothing which provides a thrill ride, either. Quite straightforward and simple.