NOT Cab/Shiraz!

As someone who really doesn’t go for Cabernet-based wines I suppose I shouldn’t like this so much. But it’s not Cabernet I don’t like, it’s good wines I like! I’ll drink anything as long as it delivers the goods and this wine does so in an articulated lorry. Excellent!

Elitistreview readers will probably know Trevallon is 50/50 Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah but it could not be more removed from Australian Cabernet/Shiraz blends – not least because it is only 13%. Sure, it’s reasonably ripe and tannic yet totally unlike the international wine idiom (that Cabernet inhabits with dreary regularity). Good!

Domaine de Trevallon 2006

Vin de Pays des Bouches du Rhone 2006, Domaine de Trevallon

Mmmm… beauty! Refinement! Elegance! That’s rather nice! The Cabernet fruit is fresh and bright with raspberry and redcurrant vivacity. There is a hint of leafiness too from just-ripe Syrah. The bright fruit and leafy tones could make you think this was a very elegant Cabernet Franc-based wine; perhaps that’s why I like the nose so much. There’s no excess of alcohol or wood here, and certainly no jam or stewed fruit. It’s just really lovely! On the palate there is a lot of tannin, really quite a lot of tannin[ref]Editor Dani, not native of these shores, points out the utter meaninglessness of words like ‘quite’ shows that nuance is impossible in English.[/ref]. The fruit is really fresh and lively, with no hint of excess ripeness even though there is a lot of fruit; the tannin isn’t out of balance thanks to this. Good acidity here as well, this is a vibrant one, and all those flavours combine with a brilliant stoniness to make a really complex whole. Quite delicious now, especially with Beechcroft Direct sausages, but will age and improve for many years. Super-fine wine of a style I don’t drink so often, but by my bruised bum it’s good!

By the way, you can still get this wine for far less than the normal hideous prices demanded for Trevallon from Leon Stolarski Fine Wines – £36.50 a bottle is a steal for something so fine with such incredible cellar-potential.