Wine Review: 2011 Château de Lancyre, Coste d’Aleyrac

I will admit that I originally wasn’t setting out to review anything other than a cigar this time, but as fate would have it, I ended up with beautiful red Rhone blend that pairs well with a medium-to- strong cigar.   And since we haven’t yet mentioned a wine here at Leaf Enthusiast, I thought I’d go ahead and make the first entry.

Château de Lancyre is in the Pic Saint-Loup district of the Languedoc region in the South of France.  With just under 200 total acres, Lancyre is viewed as one of the top estates in Pic Saint-Loup.  And with winemaking records dating back to 1550, it’s easy to see that they have quite a heritage and centuries of perfecting their methods.

The  Coste d’Aleyrac is a blend of 3 varietals: Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan.    Upon opening, I poured some into my glass and whirled it around to breathe a bit.  Then I caught the aroma of berries with a bit of woodsiness, like a damp forest.  I let it sit for a little while, then sipped it.  There were definitely several notes of sweet berries blended with some spice.  Immediately following was some pepperiness and a bit of a mineral taste then finishing with an extremely smooth and long finish.

For this kind of depth,  one usually needs to start around the $30 price point.  This, however, is one of those that fall below that level and I picked it up for $20.  It goes great with a medium-to-strong cigar, and dishes of beef to fowl, and something I will pick up again.