Name: Les Darons
Varietal: Grenache
Region: Languedoc
Country: France
Year: 2021
Price: $19.99
Professional Wine Review: Jeff Carrel is the Languedoc's self-proclaimed "eclectic winemaker," who owns neither a winery nor any vineyards, but crafts some of the best, and most interesting wines in Southern France. We love these wines because you are getting the top winemakers using estate vineyards, crafting authentic reds at the fraction of the price. Even Robert Parker's Wine Advocate says: "If it came from a more prestigious appellation in the southern Rhone, it would go for three times the price." His Les Darons is 75% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 5% Carignan sourced from estate vineyards at Chateau Arcades, and scored two 90+ ratings from The Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck. He calls the wine "Les Darons," a slang term for father or papa, and as the vineyards at Arcades are 45+ years old, the name seems fitting for this patriarchal wine. Eclectic or not, Carrel makes fabulous wine, and the Les Darons is a smooth, robust, pure expression of the Languedoc. [1]
Wine Folly Review: Wine Folly states that Grenache's most present flavors are stewed strawberry, grilled plum, leather, dried herbs, and blood orange. Grenache is a overall medium wine, medium in dryness, medium in body, and medium in tannins and acidity. Grenache does have a higher ABV then other wines, higher than 15%. Granted, Les Darons Languedoc is an old world wine from France. Therefore, it also has other varietals, varietals such as Syrah and Carignan. Both of these additional varietals add to the flavor profile of the Les Darons Languedoc.
Personal Wine Review: During the initial aroma test, this wine provided smells of earthy, berry, and a sense of richness. The feel of the wine was full as I swirled the glass, giving me a sense that this is about to be a medium to full body wine. Once tasting the wine, I found a semi sweet dryness to it accompanied by a medium body. It tasted slightly spicy but also expired berry? I don't think this was a downside of the wine, but more of a plus. I found the wine to be low in tannins, but I feel that my observations might be led astray due to my fondness of high tannin wines. This wine was not decanted, but left breathing for a couple minutes. Overall, I would have this wine again. No food was consumed with this tasting.
References:
[1] https://www.thewinebuyer.com/wines/Les-Darons-Languedoc-Red-2021-w10630414j
[2] https://winefolly.com/grapes/grenache/
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