Bonjour à tous! I was at the store the other day and saw this wine on the shelf. There was a little tag describing that it was a new brand from France, but I decided to ignore it because it felt like a gimmick with the way it was presented. I’ve tried some French wine in the past and people in San Antonio (including me) tend to think you are a bit pretentious when you buy French wine. However, I saw it again while on my weekend trip to the store and decided to pick up a bottle to give it a shot! Voici le profil:
Name: Arrogant Frog Lily Pad Noir, Pinot Noir
Winery: Domaines Paul Mas
Vintage: 2010
Region: Pézenas, France
Alcohol by Vol.: 13.0%
Price: $9
(Price can vary on state, taxes, the store’s mark-up, the cast of the next season of Dancing with the Stars, and how close we are to discovering the Higgs boson.)
When I got home, I leaped into my tasting mode. I unscrewed the cap and got to work. Yes, you read it correctly. I unscrewed a cap. There was no cork on this bad boy. I tend not to judge a wine based upon the mechanism of containment.
After I got my nose into the glass, I picked up a heavy fruit scent with a hint of cherry. I let it breathe for a little while and could tell that the spices were starting to come out, but they never really became a player. However, it did allow me to detect a subtle vanilla highlight in the back of the throat. Aerating didn’t really help too much on this wine. Just letting it stand seemed to have the same effect. I would say that the clarity was good and the color was a plum with a medium body.
Then I took a sip. I literally put the glass down, hoped back three times saying, “Wow, Wow, WOW!!!” This $9 bottle of Pinot Noir packs one hell of a punch, but in a good way. It may have a medium body, but it is full of flavor. The grape is very present, there is a hint of cherry, and I am pretty sure that there is a raspberry flavor. I couldn’t get the vanilla from the tasting though, that was only in the smell. The wine has medium tannins and does a good job at attempting to balance out the complementing flavors.
My wife and I decided to enjoy this wine with some grilled steak topped with a horseradish compound butter and grilled green beans and scallions flavored with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. The food didn’t help me pick out any other flavors but the wine paired well.
Rating = Enjoy Again.
I really liked drinking this one and will look forward to trying and reviewing their Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend as well. As a side note, the store placed this wine smack dab in the middle of the “convenience wine” section. This made me mad since it is not a “convenience wine”. This has a life of its own and is being treated like something far below its delivery. On the other hand, I am not going to tell that to the store until I stock up on some bottles. I don’t want them to mark it up before I can take advantage of their lack of education.
