Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Rouge Madon, Touraine, 2008

Sometimes, I want to let loose and try wines based purely on the recommendations of strangers. On those rare days, I imagine strolling into a shop and ambling along until some helpful salesperson catches sight of me. "Oh," I would respond offhandedly do their polite offer of assistance, "I was looking for a wine that smells vaguely of rose petals, cherries, and ferret." A truly courageous connoisseur would look me dead in the eye and ask me: "Ferret, or weasel?" That, or they'd slowly back away and leave me to my browsing. More productive sessions of this sort would almost always land me with an interesting bottle for the weekend.

While this has never once in fact happened, I would like to try it. If I did ask for wine showing berries, roses, and faint notes of animal, it might well net me a bottle of the 2008 Rouge Madon, from genius natural winemaker Christian Venier; Madon is the hamlet in Touraine where he produces his wines. On pouring this wine into a glass, the first thing I noticed was the beautiful color, a pale garnet: perfect for a wine made entirely from Gamay, the grape of Beaujolais. Delicious aromas of, yes, cherries, cranberries, gamy musk, and slight floral notes dance a little dance. Then you find out, on tasting, that this is simply an ethereally beautiful woman cleverly disguised as a bottle of wine. Bright, excellent acidity zings like juicy lightning, red fruits, tender finish. Unbelievably tasty, and affordable: $16. Drink this with a slight chill, pair with thinly sliced salami, or prosciutto.

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