WBW #33: Midpriced from the Midi

We almost forgot Wine Blogging Wednesday. Time just got away from us. I remembered at 11:30 pm on Tuesday and made Kevin get out of bed to try the wine with me. 

We chose the Mas Amiel Notre Terre, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, 2003. We didn’t quite make the $15 mark, as it was $14.99 before tax at our local Party Town. The wine was recommended by our friend JP, who rarely gives a bad wine suggestion.

I was surprised to learn this is a biodynamic wine. In a recent biodynamic session, we learned that certain areas of France lend themselves well to organic and biodynamic production. Apparently the hot climate is just perfect for the farming technique. It seems that biodynamic wines are generally more expensive, so the price point on this one is particularly nice. The Notre Terre is a blend of old vine Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carignan, all of which were hand harvested.

Anyway, I was up for a while last evening, and enjoyed the glass of wine I had. As always with red wines, I was fascinated by the changes the wine went through in an hour. A glass that had started out dry, tannic and sort of chalky mellowed within an hour to a dry, jammy red. Despite the mellowing and jamminess that came out, the wine was still layered with tobacco, leather, and earthy qualities (maybe mushroom).  I was also surprised to find some cinnamon at the back of the palate, mixed in with an herbaceous quality.

This one could definitely handle a few more years in the cellar, but it wasn’t bad as a drink-now wine.

Our review:

Many thanks to the good Doktor Weingolb for hosting this month!

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• WBW #33 Announced: Mid Priced Wines from the Midi
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• WBW #45: Old World Riesling

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2 Responses to “WBW #33: Midpriced from the Midi”

1. Joe says:

   May 16, 2007 at 9:15 pm

   Nice choice. I have had the Mas Amiel (Maury) desert wine, but I heard they make good dry wines as well. Nice blog, and I like the rating system…Cheers!
2. Marcu says:

   May 19, 2007 at 12:50 pm

   MMmmm… MAS AMIEL! Like Joe, I can only get their fortified AOC Maury products so reading about their AOC Roussillon-Villages reds is great.
   I’m real glad you remembered to uncork this!
   (By the way, the wine’s price after taxes works just fine for me!)
   Cheers!