Does this wine exist? If it weren’t for the fact that I found a bottle at a wine shop, I would have to say “no.”
A Wine Mystery
I read about the wine while perusing a local wine website. They listed it as having a 90 point score from the Wine Advocate, being produced by the Les Vignobles Foncalieu winery in France, and being priced at under $11. The website also showed that the wine was for sale all around. That is the kind of wine I want to try. It may be good enough for our wine newsletter.
Here’s the review that the website published:
Ripe, medium- to full-bodied, nicely concentrated and with ripe tannin, it has real Cabernet character, lots of dark fruits, scorched earth and chocolate aromas and flavors, and a good finish. Drink 2016-2022
Wine Advocate (?)
However, the wine does not seem to exist anywhere else in the world, except at my local wine shop.
- The wine is not listed on the winery’s website.
- The supplied wine review is not in the Wine Advocate’s database, or anywhere else
- The wine is not available in any wine shop anywhere in the USA (according to wine-searcher.com)
What We Know
Here’s what we do know: it’s primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with a bit of Syrah and Malbec. It’s also quite delicious and drinks above its mysterious lineage. Melted chocolate and blackberry and licorice on the nose. A bit of forest floor (sous bois) on the palate backed up with lush full-bodied tannins. The finish edges into bay leaves and black fruit. Very nice indeed.
Mystery Solved?
So, where did it come from? Most likely, this is a control brand: a wine made for a corporate client with its own label and blend. This is a common practice amount larger chain wine shops and grocery stores.