This week's wine gives you a last, or at least penultimate, chance to buy a wine called Coteaux du Tricastin. As Julia reported in Four new ACs and a Spanish grape for France, from the 2009 vintage the southern Rhône appellation Coteaux du Tricastin is being snappily renamed Grignan-les-Adhémar because within France the word Tricastin is fatally associated with an accident at one of Tricastin's several nuclear power plants.
This Grenache/Syrah blend made by Laurent Clapier of Terroirs Vivants could hardly taste more natural. It's described on the label as a 'Vin Vivant Naturellement Typique', a naturally typical living wine, and it is positively bursting with life. It is far from serious but I thik it should drink well over the next three years and just tastes so playful and satisfying.
I tasted it courtesy of Oddbins, who swear that from this month it will be available in at least some of their stores and also sell online – though my local branch has never heard of it. For the moment it is listed by organic specialist importers Vinceremos of the UK and, as one might expect, it's on sale in France.
This organic wine sees no oak and is neither fined nor filtered. It's just the fruit, the whole fruit and nothing but the fruit. Alcohol level is a modest 13%. It has a wonderfully dry, zappy finish and a bit of tannin but the overall impression is of pure, fresh fruit. For an authentic, hand-crafted wine this is good value.
