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

On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:03:33 -0400, Mark Lipton >
wrote:

>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.

Back from my trip to Cahors, I can expand on this slightly. The
negociants "Rigal" have been sold, and now have no connection with F&J
Rigal - so I was told, rather frostily, by the young sales lady who
was the only person available. The company who bought the
distributors is called SCV Béraud.

This is the only sensible reference I could find.
http://www.cdiscount.com/vin-champag...st=0&numpage=1

We had a very "professional" tasting. The wines were very polished on
the whole and their two top wines, "L'apogée" and "La Vierge"
impressed me. But when compared with the welcome we received at most
of the others where the owner was waiting for us faced wreathed in
smiles, I wondered why I'd bothered to make the effort to fix an
appointment. At least at Chateau Chambert (recently sold to a M
LeJeune who's a wealthy Parisian in IT), the person who showed us
round WAS expecting us and had come specially to the estate to show us
round. She didn't actually know too much about the details of wine
making but was very pleasant.
--
All the best
Fatty from Forges

IanH wrote:

> Back from my trip to Cahors, I can expand on this slightly. The
> negociants "Rigal" have been sold, and now have no connection with F&J
> Rigal - so I was told, rather frostily, by the young sales lady who
> was the only person available. The company who bought the
> distributors is called SCV Béraud.
>
> This is the only sensible reference I could find.
> http://www.cdiscount.com/vin-champag...st=0&numpage=1

Thanks for that information, Ian. It makes a lot of sense. I don't
know why the sales lady should have been at all put out by your inquiry.
How else is one to know that a particular name has been sold?

Mark Lipton

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

On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:45:00 -0400, Mark Lipton >
wrote:

>> Rigal - so I was told, rather frostily, by the young sales lady who
>> was the only person available.

>Thanks for that information, Ian. It makes a lot of sense. I don't
>know why the sales lady should have been at all put out by your inquiry.
> How else is one to know that a particular name has been sold?

I agree. But who knows what led up to and followed the purchase Rigal
J&F Freres still sell these wines, but she really was at pains to
explain that there was no longer a connection. The expression that
comes to mind is french "uin vrai frisson". A sort of stiffening of
the back, followed by "Oh no, this isn't the same organisation at
all." Most odd really. I suspect there's "une histoire".
--
All the best
Fatty from Forges

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