The wine section at M&S always flusters me. I know their buying has great strengths, and there are, as supermarket wines go, some good bottles. But I don't know many of the producers and so I always feel I'm flailing about, unable to make an informed decision.
We're having lamb shanks, and so I thought lamb shanks in the summer would be great with a Bandol. So I took a punt on this. Mostly Mourvèdre with a bit of Grenache and Syrah.
Dark core with ruby going to purple on the edges.
Touch hot on the nose, with garrigue, herby notes of rosemary and a bit of sage. Fruit takes some coaxing, but when it appears, it's blueberries with edges of redder fruit.
That heat from the nose disappears on the palate. The fruit is nicely integrated with those herbal notes, and there's lovely, modern mouthfeel to it; polished garrigue if such a thing exists. The only thing that's lacking is a touch of structure. It doesn't seem to have any edges and without anything to pull it in, it feels too heavy in the mouth. The flavours compliment the food, but its weight makes an already rich meal a bit too much. Seems to put on weight with air. Not worth £15.
**
Tasted at Miller's Court, 29 July 2012
1 comment:
I've never been too keen on M&S wines either.
Post a Comment