Review rated by 63 Ciao members on average: very helpful
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Crumbs – or words to that effect – this is my second RED wine review within a week! A few of you who often comment that you prefer red to white wine will be glad to hear I’ve been partially converted, at least by the latest samples anyway.
This time I’ve opted to buy, drink and review a modest little number by Marcel Hubert. I say opted, but it was only £3.29 for a standard 75cl bottle at my local Alldays store which is just within my rather too modest budget and most other reds were at least a £1 more. In the past I’ve tried two different white wines from Marcel Hubert which were pleasant but nothing remarkable so my expectations weren’t too high for this one. It was all done up in the usual dark green, straight glass bottle tastefully accessorised with a simple but elegant black and white label featuring the MH logo. The label declared this to be a “Medium Dry Red Vin de Table Francais” – even my very limited French told me that meant French table wine! ( Table wine – always makes me chuckle, a wine produced from mashed tables…… ;o)
So I toddled off home with it, making a mental note to resist the urge to stick it straight in the fridge and drink it at the intended room temperature instead. You will be pleased to hear I managed that bit. The time neared for my first fortifying glassful of the evening……glug, glug, glug,..out poured the nicely NOT chilled deep plumy coloured wine. I sniffed at it (trying to be professional, see!) but wasn’t hit by any particular discernable aroma other than wine! No obvious fruits hit my nostrils and it smelt very mild.
On to the first (large) sip. It tasted quite gentle and light compared to the Syrah I sampled (and wrote about) last time which damned near started an inferno at the back of my throat. No overly spicy tones and a distinct plumy flavour which nicely matched the colour (how’s that for co-ordination?!) It was nice. Very nice. So I proceeded to polish off about three glasses of it that evening. This was marked as a “B” on the red wine scale (A-E), which means it is at the lighter, mellower end of the scale. The alcohol content is 12% volume which is slightly less than the aforementioned Syrah too. However, having said that, I felt the “wobbly factor” effects of this wine a little more – a slight light headedness after three glasses and I think I could detect a headache coming on too, but that may have just been a coincidence! Mind you, it’s a fact that darker alcoholic drinks are more likely to give you a hangover/headache that light/white ones due to additives etc, so that may have played a part.
As for the usual food/drinking recommendations – well, on the label this says it is “soft enough to drink on its own, or try it with cold meats and ham”. So, I had it with my Hawaiian pizza! Very well it went down too (the pizza AND the wine, that is!) A couple of days later (i.e. today) I even bought another bottle of this wine and I’m slurping it as I write this with no munchies to accompany it and it is indeed soft on the palate and very drinkable.
Sadly my brain chemistry does not allow me to enjoy the red stuff. It is well known as a classic trigger for headaches, and certainly starts off mine - within half an hour or so it feels like I've got a pneumatic drill going in my head! Looks like I'll have to stick to the white...
21.04.2003 18:14
Sadly my brain chemistry does not allow me to enjoy the red stuff. It is well known as a classic trigger for headaches, and certainly starts off mine - within half an hour or so it feels like I've got a pneumatic drill going in my head! Looks like I'll have to stick to the white...
09.04.2003 02:06
Oh, you're going to turn me into a secret drinker with these wine reviews!
31.03.2003 15:43
Sounds good for the price! Chris