Some wines require a bit of context, lest they be overlooked. Fronton is situated in south western France, not far north of the city of Toulouse. Its wines are seldomnly seen in Australia, at least to my knowledge. Fronton reds are fashioned principally from the local négrette grape variety, which is also not seen in Australia (well, at least based on my experience and a quick look at vinodiversity.com). This particular blend is made up of négrette (55%), and supplemented with syrah (20%), cabernet sauvignon (15%) and cot – aka malbec (10%). The result here is an interesting sort of a wine. Bright in the glass, and a deep intensity purple in colour, it has slow tears around the rim of the glass. Its aromatics remind of juby cherry, raspberry, liquorice, sweet plums, new and old leather, and even cherry ripe. The palate is dry with a medium acidity, some firm tannins with extractive notes, but a medium to long length finish, coupled with flavours reminding of anise, florals, sweet cherry/plums, red meat and a bitter edge. The quality here is towards good on the grounds of flavour interest and the good finish of the wine, and the wine is most definitely crafted from a different sort of a grape variety. This is quite a fruit forward wine that is youthful in its suggestion, and I think mostly comes together as a wine of interest though it took me a glass to “get it”. Acceptable to Good
Abv: 14%
Price: $19.99
Source: sample
Vendors: Check http://discovervin.com.au
Website: http://www.chateaubouissel.com/vins.en.html
Tasted: 2013
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