It was at the retirement party of a colleague at a restaurant that I came across the above wine being served for the Chinese banquet amongst a number of different red and white wines. First of all, Cotes de Marmandais is not a well known appellation and the choice by the restaurant could be because of value for money. This appellation just outside the area of Bordeaux gives rise to the second point of interest for me, namely the predominant grape used in the blend - Arbouriou. I had met this grape before at the Wine Fair some time ago, but could not be sure if I had come across it at the consumer level here in Hong Kong.
Arbouriou is a grape from South West France which is somewhat related to Malbec and Merlot. It is early ripening with low acidity and high tannins, producing deep coloured, tannic and spicy wines somewhat lacking in acidity. This together with a high vigour and copious cropping leads it to be used in lesser quality wines of that region. As for this wine, it was a deep ruby with a sweet metallic acid fruity nose. The palate was slightly sweet acid with a touch of fruit, leading to an acid tannic backbone.
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