Score: 85/100
Les Charmes is a white wine, officially called ‘sweet’ by the producer, although our tasting (below) shows it is more on the off-dry to mid-sweet side of things.
It is made by major winery of South West France called Producteurs Plaimont from Gros Manseng grapes. It comes under the Cotes de Gascogne IGP appellation.
So how good is this 2015 Plaimont Les Charmes?
Tasting Notes
The wine comes in a rather-intense lemon-yellow color, with gold hues.
The smell is quite powerful, both fruity and lifted by spicy vegetal notes.
Confit pineapple and lemon marmalade are the main fruit characters, though one would also find fresh lemon, ripe apricot or dried figs. I guess the point is that it’s very fruity, and on the ripe-to-dried fruit tropical and citrusy side of things.
A touch of grass, white pepper, and acacia leaves represent the vegetal aspect in it, which is positive as it lifts the fruity notes for a fresher and lighter feel.
As you put the wine in your mouth, the sweetness is the first noticeable impression. Not that it’s particularly sweet, but you’re not informed about the residual sugars on the label. Hence it could be unexpected as the Gros Manseng grape variety comes as either a sweet or dry white wine, while the Petit Manseng really mainly comes as sweet.
That said, the acidity balances the sugars well with its crispy lemony feel. Solid body and a rather oily texture give the wine some good weight and palate impression.
The tropical and citrus notes perceived on the nose bust in flavors in the mouth. The lifted spicy vegetal tones do to. The whole provides an enjoyable layered experience, overall feeling light and fruity despite the sugars that (for my palate) show a persistent intend to heavy things up unnecessarily.
Overall
A well-made off-dry to semi-dry white that delivers in clean and pure ripe tropical and citrus characters and provides a layered, quite concentrated, and intense tasting experience.
Wine and food pairing?
Pair with elegant sweet and sour entrees, acidic ones at that preferable, like a grapefruit vegetarian salad with vinaigrette, vinegar-dressed carpaccio or Asian dishes.
Enjoy 🙂
2015 Plaimont Les Charmes Label Images
Please let me know your thoughts