2009 Domaine du Grollet Vin de Pays Charentais

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 73 points

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  10/31/2015 - forceberry wrote: 73 Points

  A blend of Merlot (80%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) from the Cognac region by Maison Rémy Martin.
  
  Dark, dense and opaque blackcurrant color with slight bricking in the rim. Brooding yet very rich and exuberant nose with huge wafts of toasty oak and melted milk chocolate - there seems to be more oak in this wine than in an XO Cognac! Beneath all the oak, one can pick up aromas of dark fruit preserve, ripe prunes, overripe blackcurrant, some roasted meat and a hint of mint marmalade. By the nose, I'd guess this is a Cabernet from Australia or Chile. Very full, somewhat savory palate continues from where the nose took off: rich flavors of milk chocolate, toasted oak, spicy wood, ripe blackcurrant and blackberry jam. Faint nuances of chocolate pudding and bilberry jam. Surprisingly balanced, due to the surprisingly fresh acidity and ripe yet chewy tannins. Long finish with flavors of spice, toasted oak, bitter woodiness, chocolate and cocoa; the hints of soft plummy Merlot flavors are the only traces of fruit in the aftertaste.
  
  Very ponderous stuff. Probably there is a reason why I had never heard of Cognac red wines before. This is even more anonymous and nondescript stuff than what the great majority of modernist Bored-eaux are making nowadays. There is nothing French here. The only redeeming quality in this wine is its surprisingly balanced structure; flavor-wise it is the most boring, overripe, overoaked, super-rich wannabe-Bdx I've had in a long while. Might age nicely, but even at its reasonable price of approx. 10€, not recommended.

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