Thursday, August 25, 2011

2006 Chateau Lyonnat Lussac St. Emilion


 After I read the Wine Bible I became a bit of a Francophile for a while. I went in for months only wanting to drink French wine, mainly because all of those obscure wine labels with pictures of large chateaus on label finally made sense to me, I could read them and understand what I was buying, I felt like I had learned a new language - it was fun.
What is also really fun is perusing the bin end section of your local wine shop. You know all the bottles that for one reason or another are marked down below their normal price, usually due to damaged wine labels or whatnot. As you can see from this picture, this wine was originally priced at $20, but due to some wine stains on the label it was marked down to $14. Sweet.

I bought this probably about 6 or so months ago. I don't usually buy wine that I haven't tried before, but every once and a while it is fun to not know what you are getting yourself into.

So, here goes. It was good, very good. I actually thought it could have had more time in the bottle and gotten better, there was a slight green-ness to the wine, it was still great, but I think it would be better in a couple years. (Hmm a novel idea in this wine age, a wine that can actually lay down for a bit and get better, not beg to drunk the day you buy it.)

This is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Cab Franc. Now, Cab Franc is one of my least favorite varietals, I haven't come across a 100% Cab Franc that I wanted to drink, most of them give me the smelly fart face. However, in small quantities it does add tannin and heft to wine and it works here. It had a great earthy note and a slight berry flavor...thank you merlot, it was an all over palate pleaser. Now, at $20 it may be more money than people want to spend on a Wednesday night wine, but at only 12.5% alcohol it is the perfect wine to drink on a school night, or if you happen to be driving that night, two glasses won't put you over the edge.

The Particulars
Winery: Chateau Lyonnat
Varietal:
Merlot, Cabernet, Cab Franc
AVA: St. Emilion
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 12.5
Price:  $20 (Bin End at $14)
Rating = BUY IT

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