Corbières from Hell

It’s time to stop trying to forget about the South. It might be a blemish on the rest of the country, but it’s not going away anytime soon, and in fact, some pretty èxciting stuff is happening down there. If one has been ignoring the south of France, one should prepare to be hit with a primal concrete sledge.

Southern France might be better known for wealthy couples spending their psycho holidays relaxing on the beach than its wine production, but the common stereotype that it only produces barely drinkable plonk is just heresy. That vineyard over there on the other side of the cemetery gates could very well be capable of producing an old vine carignan with total palate domination.

And that’s just what tonight’s wine has done; presenting the 2006 Maxime Magnon Rozeta. from Corbières. For a modest $19 from an understated region, this wine has shattered my previous opinion of the Languedoc. Some have probably heard of this thing called Brettanomyces, well this isn’t it; it’s good, clean, southern dirt. Anyone expecting a lush new world style wine, however, should be prepared for a clash with reality when the tannins suck every last remaining drop of saliva from one’s mouth.

This wine hits the palate hard; so hard that it will leave many who are used to polished Napa cabernet calling for the medicine man. This is definitely a wine for those who don’t mind a little roughness around the edges, and in the end it rewards drinkers with a message in grapes. That message states: “I’m never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down…” I’m not going to finish that.