Southern France and Mud Flaps

Grande Cassagne
"G.S." - 2004
Costières de Nîmes, Languedoc-Rousillon, France
Rating: 6.8







Nobody wants to worry about always putting in the effort. And we shouldn't have to. There are too many drinks out there nowadays for us to seriously consider pairing wine with food on a regular basis. If you like Chardonnay, drink Chardonnay. No one's saying you're an asshole. But one day, you're going to come across a wine that just didn't make sense until you tried a kickass meal alongside it.


That's what it took for this one. But I won't give it the credit for being a wine of stature that only a thick steak could tame. The Grande Cassagne has character; there's nothing wrong with this wine per se. However, one shouldn't have to try this hard.


From the beginning, this smelled like the Southern French rolling mountains (I imagine). 40 percent Grenache, 40 percent Syrah, and 20 percent Mourvedre (the three most important grapes for red Rhone wine and other French areas), I get a hefty noseful of blackberries and wet soil from the nose. And that's usually a good sign. And so I try a little harder to get some pretty cool hints of herbs...something like basil (pizza seasonings, perhaps?).


And the red juiciness lands on my tongue and explodes with out-of-control acid.


Damnit.


I've had refermented wine many times before; that wasn't the problem. This just didn't have the balance I was looking for. Which was too bad. Fortunately, this because 10 times as tolerable when I broke out the rock-hard block of Dutch Perrano cheese in my fridge. Almost there. So, I gave it some time while I cooked up a steak on the stove.


It shouldn't have come to that, but hey, whatever. This was $12 spent on something that I enjoyed for what it was: fruity, earthy, syrupy wine with something closely related to a soul. With the cheese, this certainly livened up into a refreshing representation of raspberry/blackberry and cream (thank you, dairy farmers).


I guess expectations are a bitch.

However, a major factor in the enjoyment has been the soundtrack of the last month of my life. Decoration Day by the Drive-By Truckers has easily found it's way into the top 10 albums of the decade, thus far. Beer seems to be the obvious pairing while taking in these Southern Rock Hammers. With that being said, there's a shitload going on here. Decoration Day came out 3 years ago, but it might as well have either been 2010 or 1974. It's great when a true rock band can weave stories in their songs that don't pander to the simple equative emotions of loving your home or country. Thank God for DBT.

-Justin