2006 Clos du Gravillas "Le Rendez-Vous du Soleil" Vin de Pays Cotes de Brian

Well, this gets my pick for longest ever name of a wine...14$ @ K&L; they still have it too, if you're interested. From the Cotes du Brian, which, as near as I can tell, is part of the Languedoc (even though there's no mention of it in the Oxford Companion to Wine). This is a strange blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carignan, 30% Syrah, 5% Mouvedre and 5% Grenache Noir. If it wasn't for the Cab, I'd say this was CdP like...but you can't put Cab in CdP as far as I know.

This wine has a big curranty nose, along with some pepper, licorice (maybe) and lavender notes. (Incidentally, currants are one of those things that I have only encountered in person a few times, and the only real reason that I know what they smell like in wine is because they smell somewhere between raspberry, blueberry, and licorice to me, which is totally unique in my mind.) Although this is fruity (and fresh), this has a good dash of acidity to balance it all out, and a little bit of  spice on the end of the finish. It's not all that complex, but it's really perky and fun to drink. B+