Gerard Bertrand - Corbieres

Classification: AOP

Year: 2014

Alcohol: 13.5%

Grapes: Grenache, Syrah, Mourverdre (couldn't find the ratios again)

I've seen this bottle at many stores and figured it must be good enough to give a try.

The scents to this wine were quite sweet upon opening the bottle. Dominant scents of sweet red fruits. There were some light earthy and spicy scents too. Upon tasting, i could get an immediate sense of dark fruit flavours. Plum and blackberry are quite dominant with very light touches of raspberry, cherry, and even cranberry to give it a slightly needed sweetness. In fact to be brutally honest, there is quite a distinct bitterness that can be tasted afterwards. Some light spices such as thyme, savory, and a bit of pepper can be tasted, although it feels closer to finishing off an entire spice rack bottle of them instead of a soft genre pinch. They’re quite overpowering for my tastes. The body, on one end, it’s decently light. It’s another one where a few flavours can be distinguished if you let them settle into your mouth. However, I find it leans way closer to the smoky/spicy/bitter side. I personally don’t mind a somewhat spicier/smokier wine, but I find it tries too hard to compete with the sweeter flavours rather than compliment them. The finish to this one is fairly dry with fairly high tannins. There is a distinct smoky finish with this one too. The high tannins and the spicy flavours gives a feeling like you’ve smoked half a pack of cigarettes.

I'm personally having a hard time trying to really recommend this one. On one end, there are a decent range of flavours to be had and made with this one. On the other hand, i personally find the flavours to be a bit unbalanced. Perhaps its because I've had many wines similar to this that feel more developed and balanced. If your wine palette is still in its infancy, then I don't think this one is a bad one to try out, but I cant help but feel some slightly experienced connoisuers like me would expect a slightly more balanced wine.

Pairings: I think the smokier notes and finish would make this one great with spicy food. I even had this one with some jalapeno stuffed burgers that went down quite nicely (didn't take a picture unfortunately... Compliments at Safeway and Sobeys has these patties and they're quite good!). Nicely seasoned red meats would go decent as well.

Overall Rating: 2.5 Languedoc Crosses out of 5

Where to Get: https://www.liquorconnect.com/Products/Stores/790131