French Value

As it happens I picked up this steal of a wine on-line at winelibrary.com. At $8 I didn’t think I could go wrong. Well, it was better than I expected. So good that I immediately jumped on-line this evening to order another case. The 2005 Sainte Léocadie Les Clauses from Minervois is truly an experience. Not a huge big heavy wine but one that is so intriguing and interesting. It just teases you and makes you question why you are here on this planet. It has a nice medium dark color that is bright and cheerful. When I brought this glass to my nose I was immediately impaled by tight aromas of peppercorn. Not black peppercorn but white and pink ones. There were also some very interesting vegetable notes on the nose. It had a nice mouthfeel that improved with some air. It was not too heavy but not really light either. It was just right. On the palate I tasted parsnips and red beets mingling with some menthol, raspberries and black cherries. It had the tiniest bit of smoke. Unusual and interesting for such an inexpensive French wine. It married superbly with some garlic beef I cooked tonight.