Domaine Des Enfants - Maury Vintage

Classification: AOP

Year: 2011

Alcohol: 16%

Grapes: 100% Grenache

The scents to this wine were a tad sweet, but primarily oaky. In fact, scents of liquorice were quite strong with this one. Felt like snorting a line of nibs than analyzing a wine. There were hints of spices at the end too. Sweetness of raspberries and dark cherries give a nice welcoming feel to the tastebuds upon that first sip. Afterwards, there’s an explosion of spices that swiftly take over the tastebuds. Tingles of pepper, oregano, and thyme can be made after the sweetness makes its footprint. Perhaps in between the spicy and sweet flavours is is a dominant taste of liquorice, and is the best flavour to primarily describe this wine. Perhaps peppered liquorice is a slightly more accurate but unappealing way to explain it (depends if you like that extra spice on every food you have... or you like to put pepper on your liquorice snacks for whatever reason...). There’s the sweetness and slight bitterness of red liquorice that makes up most of the flavour, but also a bit of spice as well that gives a bit of a kick that you may love or hate. The body to this one is quite silky and velvety. In fact, it’s very silky for a red wine, but it fits perfectly with that liquorice taste. This feels like drinking liquified nibs with a shot of bourbon or tequila tossed in there to give it that alcoholy taste and spice. That said, the punch of spices at the end may turn some off as they can feel a bit strong and even rushed in the mouth. They don’t take the time to really develop in your mouth, and dont feel as balanced with respect to the other flavours you will feel. While there’s still a tad tingle of that liquorice sweetness and bitterness at the tail end, you can still feel those spices cling on to the tip of your mouth after that last sip. The finish is quite smooth overall.

This one was interesting and different. The liquorice feel was a nice change and gave a different flavour that I was expecting. While I did enjoy the additional sweetness and spicy flavours that gave an extra kick of flavour, I feel they may be a bit too overpowering to some as they're not as well balanced I found. There's definitely more to like than hate about this wine. If you like liquorice and hints of spices, then I'd recommend giving this one a shot.

Pairings: I think this one would go great with heavy meats like stews and very mature cheeses. I even think this would go great at one of those big Texas barbeque spots like Memphis Blues.

Overall Rating: 3 Languedoc Crosses out of 5

Where To Get: I can't find this one on Liquorconnect.com, but I have seen it at Wine Gallery. I'll update this when/if I find it.