Curious Fruit Carignan Grenache 2009 (France)

As a Valentine's Day gift to myself I went to the LCBO and did some browsing, with the intent of finding some great valued wines. Earlier that day, Alia had forwarded me an e-mail that showed the Top 50 Value Wines at the LCBO. Before heading to the store I did a quick browse and found four reds that interested me.

Needless to say, I went and picked up 8(!!) bottles (a little bit aggressive), but only spent $100.60. I think that this is SUPER reasonable as the average price of each bottle came out to 12.58. Amazing. The first one that I tried was the Curious Fruit Carignan Grenache which is a 2009 vin de France. The bottle is just in the non-vintage section and retails for $9.95. I was intrigued by the name of the wine, as well as what the bottle looked like. Super simple, and somewhat cheesy! After opening the wine, the first sip was not the best but after a couple of minutes of it breathing in the glass it got so much better. The wine itself is made from Carignan and Grenache, and comes from the South of France. These grapes do better in the warmer regions and tend to give off spiciness as well as black fruit on the nose. It is a well balanced wine and has fine tannins with a great acidity and medium finish.

I would definitely recommend this wine for everyone! Not only is the price right, but it definitely allows people to break out of their comfort zones and try something new.

Happy Wednesday!

HM