'98 Domaine Clavel "Les Garrigues"

[Drew]

Sorry I haven't posted much lately, still infected with the worm /virus and can only post from my work computer.

Picked up 10 of these beauties in the bargain bin at one of my fav wine stores at $9.99 per!!!
Dark purple, almost opaque. Subtle barnyard and bret scents with rich dark fruit and leather. Really nice dark fruit flavors with that French funkiness that I love. Mushroom and leather notes, some herb de provence all framed nicely within rich dark fruit. Tannnins are present but not overwhelming. This is a very good Languedoc. 14%Alc/Vol.

Paired this with grilled pork tenderloin marinated with jerk marinade, twice baked potatoes and a mixed field greens salad. The wine matched beautifully with the natural jerky flavors of the pork. Yum!

Drew

[mrdutton]

Brett is short for brettanomyces. It's a wild yeast that can get into the wine (or the wood) if the winery is not very careful about cleanliness. It gives a distinct mousy/horsey nose and a metallic aftertaste. It mutes the fruit and after time in the bottle all wines with brett taste the same. It is controversial in that everyone agrees too much is a flaw. Some can tolerate it in lower levels (and claim it adds complexity), others abhor it at all. The key point is the metallic aftertaste. Lots of things can smell bad but only Brett has that metallic tang at the end. Hope this helps.

Above from STRAT's PLACE. Sure helped me! Not sure if I've yet had the "pleasure" of tasting mousy/horsey with a metallic aftertaste in anything, let alone a wine.

The above saves me the embarressment of asking Drew what the heck BRETT means...... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 01-18-2002).]

[Drew]

Ok...good poop scents with no metalic aftertaste. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

Drew

[hotwine]

Drew said "subtle Brett", which is just the leading edge of funkiness, and not yet the tidal wave of horse sweat. A little of the stuff goes a long way, but IMHO it definitely adds character to what might otherwise be unremarkable juice.

[mrdutton]

Well now I know......... I've tasted what he's talking about. Just didn't know that the term was Brett.....

I've used the term shite....... to be considerate..... in previous posts. So from now on, I'll substitute shite for poop or brett...... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for the education......

[Drew]

Absolutely right Gil, this bottle was well balanced, struttn' the right stuff. A good value at $16 much less the $10 I paid.

Drew