On Apr 28, 12:03 am, Mark Lipton wrote:
With dinner of lamb tonight, we opened a recent purchase from Sam's:

2006 "Les Palombières" Vin de Pays Côtes de Gascogne rouge
nose: tart cherries, slight sappiness, later funkiness
palate: smooth entry, medium body, soft but not flabby, decent acidity

This is a blend of 60% Tannat/40% Merlot from SW France, but bears no
resemblance to a Madiran or Iroulegay. I had received an email from
Sam's flogging this wine, and got some encouragement from Ian Hoare who
knew of the producers (F. and J. Rigal), so I decided to risk my
hard-earned $7 on this. Very forward and easy drinking, it made for an
excellent $7 lamb wine. We also picked up the blanc, a blend of Ugni
Blanc and Colombard, and will report on that in due course.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Actually, Rigal is now owned by Gassier. Gassier has some really great
wines in their portfolio...what I have really enjoyed is their 2006
Cotes-du-Provence Roses...Sables D'Azur and St.Victoire. I picked up
the Sables D'Azur at Sam's recently and loved it....fresh strawberries
and a nice dry, clean finish. I would recommend this along with the
Rigal Les Palombieres Blanc for perfect Summer sippers!

GC