Château Tanesse owns 136 acres in the Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux AOP, in the Entre-Deux-Mers. This cuvée is half Merlot, 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, with a balance of Cabernet Franc and a soupçon of Petit Verdot. Grapes were grown on 25-year-old vines in gravelly Garonne hillside, and the winemaking is modern: maceration in stainless with temperature control, then aging for twelve months in French oak.
The wine is earthy but perfumed, with the unmistakable black fruits and woodsy forest spice of a classic Bordeaux blend. There are suggestions of cedar and mint, loam and warm blackberries, and its lightweight but astringent body offers a shock of tart cherry and green herbs.
A great deal (like many Côtes de Bordeaux wines, on which more later)—and a good food wine, terrific with the savory, roasted, grilled, and vegetal.
13.5% abv | About $14 (sample) | Imported by Fruit of the Vines
