2015 Thierry Navarre Saint-Chinian Cuvée Olivier, Languedoc

Score: 90/100

Score 90/100

This Saint-Chinian AOC red wine is a blend of Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah sourced from old vines in the Languedoc region of Southern France.

Tasting Notes

This Languedoc red comes in bright red color of medium intensity, it is somewhat light in color for a Southern French red, but quite deep and dark at the same time. Surprising!

The nose is intense and lifted by a wealth of green pepper notes and plenty of Provencal herbs, thyme and rosemary. Add hints of dark cherry and intense tar for a lifted and rather complex aromatic profile.

Put the wine in your mouth, and it bursts in a myriad of flavors. It is also very spicy to taste, with notes of chocolate and mint, white pepper and chili. A good way to summarize it would be that it somewhat tastes like a chili-scented dark chocolate. Yummy.

There’s a lot more to it though, and that’s what makes it interesting and unique. The body is medium, so is the tannic concentration. In fact, it’s a little rustic with granulous, slightly edgy tannins especially to the finish. But the acidity and a savory bitterness, yet giving a smooth-enough sensation, make it so juicy and salivating.

Ripe red berry fruit flavors, with chocolate and these lifted spices, make it taste like nothing you’ve tasted before: a herb-scented chili-chocolate cake stuffed with juicy berries and cinnamon?

Overall

A very characterful and charming Saint-Chinian red, true to its terroir and origin. Somewhat rustic, this makes it all the more authentic and true to the grapes it was made from.

Utterly juicy, spicy and herbal, it takes some forgiving of the rough edges to enjoy. If you do though, you will find a wine with depth and complexity of flavors, in a pretty unique expression nowhere else to be found in such a tortuous manner.

Enjoy