Out Of The Bottle
With David Ellis Arrogant Frog Ribet Red Cabernet Merlot 2010 & Evans and Tate Redbrook Chardonnay
If
you like celebrating all things French, then July’s the month to do it,
with the Tour de France running to the 24th and Bastille Day on the
14th.
And a couple of French wines to help you along are the
irreverently-named Arrogant Frog Ribet Red Cabernet Merlot 2010 and
Ribet Rosé 2010 – both made by Jean-Claude Mas, a one-time sports car
salesman and racing car driver whose passion for wine saw him ditch
these careers in the 1990s and establish Arrogant Frog (that now sells
some 10-million bottles annually.)
A limited edition Tour de
Frog label for the Ribet Red shows the “Arrogant Frog” riding a bicycle
in celebration of the Tour de France; it could well become something of
a minor collectors’ item, as the Tour will actually pass through
Jean-Claude and the Frog’s home of Languedoc on July 17th.
With
ripe black currant, plum, herbal and vanilla hints and chocolatey
tannins this is a good drop to enjoy while watching the Tour on TV one
evening – match it with a tasty traditional French Coq au Vin. The
Ribet Rosé has toffee and candied fruit flavours and suggestions of
ripe cherries, making it very pleasant match with another French
classic, the fish soup, Bouillabaisse.
They’re $10.99 each through Dan Murphy’s, BWS and Woolworths Liquor. One For Lunch
Evans
and Tate Redbrook Chardonnay is only made from the best of vintages,
and the just-released 2009 was one of those with fruit being drawn from
three diverse vineyards with vastly differing terroir and microclimates
in Western Australia’s Margaret River region.
Winemaker Matt
Byrne used only hand-picked fruit and from this created a wine that’s
not overly powerful, but rather beautifully subtle, sublimely balanced
and displaying lovely texture. Pay $39.99 and enjoy its stone-fruit and
melon flavours with pan-fried salmon steaks and a buttery sauce.
Need a drink?
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