Château Viranel - Tradition Rouge

Classification: AOP

Year: 2015

Alcohol: 13.5%

Grapes: 40% Grenache, 40% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre, 10% Carignan

This one has a very sweet and pleasant scent of sweet berries. Its aromas are very welcoming as soon as you open the bottle. You will immediately get a delicious blend of red fruits and berries such as raspberries, cherries, and a hint of strawberries and cranberries to name a few. The overall body of this wine is quite lovely. The body isn’t deep or rich, but the flavours are quite enjoyable and easy on the taste buds. This wine is perhaps a bit on the acidic side, but I’m personally a sucker for these kinds of flavours and can handle and embrace it. The flavours are not overpoweringly sweet like shoving an entire bowl of these berries into your mouth. There is a nice peppery aftertaste to it, and you can still embrace those sweet red fruits at the tail end of your mouth. It’s a nice tingle versus a burning sensation on the tongue and cheeks.

This wine is very easy and refreshing from start to finish, and will go through your mouth and liver quite nicely. However, it is perhaps not the most complex wine, and some may find it a bit too much on the sweet or acidic side; especially for a red wine. However, I personally love the way the flavours blend together. I would definitely recommend this one if you enjoy a sweeter and smoother red wine with many distinct light and sweet flavours. There is a lot to enjoy with this wine, and makes it a good candidate for any drinking occasion from a warm summer day, a nice cozy dinner, just for drink because... drinking, and chugging a full glass of it (I seriously did this... and enjoyed it... below is a video for a Facebook group initiation video if you don’t believe me).

Pairings: The lightness and smoothness makes this one quite versatile to pair up with. This one went nicely with my BBQ steak. I could picture it going well with any meat dish. This one is also a good candidate purely on its own; whether it be a casual sip or chugging like a champ.

BBQ steak, grilled vegetables, and seasoned steak fries went well with this wine.

I was invited to join a Facebook group called "Quarantined Chuggers for Qualified Ruggers. #NoNormies" aimed to unite the international rugby community to make these uncertain times a bit more fun, but also bring light to some of the struggles even the toughest of athletes such as rugby players can face in these times. The first post you must make must involve chugging a drink (doesn't have to be alcohol). This was my video.

Overall Rating: 4 Languedoc Crosses out of 5

Where To Get: https://www.liquorconnect.com/Products/Stores/792178

· J Webb Wine Merchant (Calgary... boo...)

I have two more bottles of this. Be nice and I may be willing to share a bit of it.