Purchased at Whole Foods in Los AngelesPhotograph from winemaker's website. www.cazes-rivesaltes.com

Price - $10.99

Alcohol - 13%

This blend of Syrah and Merlot comes from southern France.  It is made with organically grown grapes, which is always a nice touch.  The last organic wine I tasted did well, so I have hopes for this one.  This is typically a pretty interesting blend, as you get the punch and the jazz from syrah, while maintaining the silky, soft spoken nature of the merlot.

Pop and Pour

On the Nose - Black raspberry, dark chocolate, black cherry, tobacco

It is a very light wine, actually quite thin, but not flavorless.  I taste a lot of tobacco in this wine.  The black cherry flavors are there as well.  The finish is not long lasting, but sticks around for just a couple seconds for you to continue tasting the tobacco.  There is a touch of the raspberry-dark chocolate on the palate as well and it is quickly covered by the tobacco, but resumes on the close of the finish.  Definitely an interesting wine. 

After an Hour

On the Nose - Chalk, cocoa, raspberry jam

This is a pretty dry red wine.  There is a small kiss of sweetness at the front, followed by some fruit flavors of raspberry and cherry.  The chalky, tobacco flavors take over through the midpalate (the part of the tasting sequence that is before the finish, before you swallow).  It finishes very dry with flavors of cherry and tobacco.

Summary - 87 points

This is kind of hard to like.  Most people won't be very attracted to this wine I think because it is so dry and has a strong tobacco flavor, yet it is quite thin.  It has the consistency of skim milk, which was its major loss.  This is not a bad wine though.  It is quite interesting and shows some complexity.  This might be paired somewhat well with red pasta sauce.  I've seen this on sale at Whole Foods for almost half the price as well, so you may want to give it a shot.

I'm sorry, this isn't mine again. This is from the winemaker's website as well.