The Domaine Le Gœuil 2005 Cairanne (Cuvée Lea Felsch) is a grenache-based red at 14 percent alcohol.
The women at
Red Feet were excited about it because it's fun to drink and was also produced by Catherine Le Gœuil, who's -- surprise-surprise -- a woman.
In
Adventures on the Wine Route, Kermit Lynch (who imported this bottle) speculates wine doesn't just take on the qualities of its terrain. It also inherits characteristics from the winemaker.
I can believe this about Le Gœuil's Cairanne; it can't have been made with a heavy hand.
We opened the bottle last night. First inhale is an explosion of ripe red, sweet fruit: strawberries and candy, maybe even grenadine. Deeper inhale betrays a yielding, saccharine quality with a faint alcohol sting.
Cairanne is the color of Welch's grape juice with candy red highlights. She's playful. The taste is young and fleeting, coating the tongue for almost too little time.
It reminds me of being a kid, sometime close to summer when the sun's kiss is still so light it hardly disturbs the dew on your face.
I think it's best had with beautiful things that don't weigh heavy: a bouquet of flowers, fruit and yogurt, maybe quail with baby spinach.
I'd like to buy another one of these and age it awhile. It's a delight as-is, but that very quality makes me suspect an equally compelling maturity.
It would be neat to visit Arbois and catch this sometime. The NY Times has me thinking it's the wine geek's response to mardi gras.
