Domaine Viranel – Arômes Sauvages

Classification: IGP

Year: 2017

Alcohol: 13.5%

Grapes: 100% Alicante Bouschet

I got a little excited when I decided to bust open another wine from Viranel. Their Tradition Rouge was fantastic, and gave me nostalgia for that bottle I chugged for my Quarantined Chuggers for Qualified Ruggers post (minus the hangover that day). Hopefully this one would be nice as well.

Again, for a red, sweet fruity scents can be distinguished, but upon sniffing inside the bottle long and hard like a line of good old Saint A or cheap-ass Sherwood Park crack trying to make sense of the flavours, you can pick up hints of more non-fruity flavours such as chocolate, smoke, and mocha I think "earthy" is a good word to describe the blend of flavours. As much as I enjoy a nice sweet and smooth red, I could tell this one would be a nice change from other reds I had. You can definitely still feel those non-fruity flavours upon the first few drops tingling on your taste buds. There is a light sweetness of darker fruits and berries such as plum and blackberries that can be tasted, but there is a dominance of chocolate, smoke, and mocha like flavours in this wine's body. All of that said, despite a heavier and bolder with these sort of flavours, it has a very surprisingly smooth finish to it. There is a bit of a smoky aftertaste to it, but it doesn’t leave your mouth hanging dry or stinging with acidity at the end.

I’m not sure I’d consider this a go-to wine for me, but that is not in any way to say it’s a bad wine. I generally like a somewhat sweeter red wine, but this one was a nice refreshing change and to further enhance my palette. The somewhat bolder flavours for a red are not too bold and go down quite smoothly and balance out surprisingly well. If you generally like fruitier and sweeter wines, you may not like this one as much. However, I would gladly recommend it to those that like a more dominantly smokier and/or earthier taste to their wines. Not sure if this is one I would stock up on (or chug a full glass), but I would not hesitate to have a glass if someone offered (I generally don’t pass up drink offerings anyway, but that’s beside the point).

Pairings: I figured a somewhat smokier and earthier wine like this would go great with some pulled pork. It did not disappoint. In fact any smoked meat would go great with this!

The bottle does say "Made in Languedoc" by the way. Pretty sweet.

Overall Rating: 4 Languedoc Crosses out of 5

Where To Get: https://www.liquorconnect.com/Products/Stores/769017

· Lacombe Park Spirits (St. Albert)

· Wine and Beyond at Windermere (Edmonton)

· Color de Vino (Edmonton)

· Vine Arts Wine and Spirits (Calgary)

· Vine Styles (Calgary)

· Bricks Wine Co (Calgary)

I unfortunately never made it to Chateau/Domaine Viranel during my travels, but they have not disappointed yet. I can’t wait to try another one of their wines! I'll definitely make this a spot to visit next time I’m out in Languedoc.