Chateau Maris La Touge is a lovely Syrah and Grenache blend from Minervois in the south of France. As we are coming to find out, we're quite enjoying wines from this part of the country!
Grenache
Chateau Musar Pere et Fils 2012 Review – A Great Find
Chateau Musar is one of those wineries that we have to buy a bottle of every time we find them in a liquor store- especially the aged bottles which the winery does not release until they are ready to drink (making them somewhat hard to come by).
Our first experience with this winery was enjoying a lovely '98 at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs, and ever since then we've been on the hunt for bottles. We found a great Chateau Musar 2006 at a store locally and struck gold when visiting family in Ohio where we found half case of Chateau Musar 2010 and the Pere et Fils 2012 as well.
We bought one of each, went back to my mom's house, cracked open the 2012, and knew we had to go back to the store the next day to buy more- this Carignan, Grenach, Cinsaut, and Cabernet Sauvignon blend offered everything we love about the winery in an attractive price point as well!
Els Vineryons Saltamarti 2018 Review – Tempranillo and Garnacha
If you like high acid, low tannin reds that have some delicious red fruit notes that open up to darker fruit (especially with meat-based dishes), you definitely should give the Els Vineryons Saltamarti a try.
This Tempranillo and Garnacha blend will have what you seek in an easy-drinking format.
Partida Creus Vinel-lo VN 2019 Review – A Delightful Blend
Partida Creus is an interesting winery in Catalunya, Spain, that is run by Italians and uses grapes acquired from old and sometimes abandoned vineyards. These are then farmed organically and produce some seriously delicious natural blends.
Vinel-lo, denoted VN, is a red field blend of six different grapes in various quantities- specifically Grenache, Mourvedre, Tempranillo, Sumoll, Trepat, and Cinsaut. As wines from Partida Creus have initials in a rather recognizable format on the label, it should be noted that they have VN bottles for red (this review), white, and even sparkling- so you may come across any of these if you are simply searching out “Partida Creus VN”.
So, what is the red blend like? Well, this one had a nice complex aroma and was relatively straightforward on the palate.
Bodegas Olivares Panarroz 2011 Review – An Old Cellar Find
While we have a pretty good handle on everything that can be found in our cellar, sometimes we get a bit of surprise. In many cases, this is simply finding a bottle that we thought we had already consumed. Other times it is finding out a bottle does not contain the grapes we expected. In even rarer instances, we find that a bottle is much, much older than we had originally thought.
Our Bodegas Olivares Panarroz Jumilla (GSM blend- mostly Mourvedre) was the latter. We bought this one on an impulse because we saw it was on a clearance sale from a local wine store for $8. Instinctively I saw this and bought it without thinking much at the time because, well, it was $8. But it wasn't until we went to drink it that we realize this bottle was also nine-years-old.
A pleasant surprise indeed.
Mathilde Chapoutier Grand Ferrage 2018 Review – A Lovely French Rose
Our first rose from Provence was the Mathilde Chapoutier Grand Ferrage 2018 which was a blend of many grapes including Grenache, Cinsaut, Syrah, and Vermentino (listed as Rolle).
While this one had a relatively light flavor profile, we enjoyed the bottle of this all the same- especially with a heaping plate of homemade paella!
Gratavinum 2Ï€r 2016 from Priorat, Spain Review – Herby and Earthy
If you are a fan of wine with intense herb and spice notes, Gratavinum's 2Ï€r from Priorat, Spain is for you. This one is a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah and is taglined “the well rounded wine” to play off of its name.
While we thought the 2016 vintage could do with more aging beyond the 4-year age we enjoyed it at, this one was simply intriguing.