Good Cheap Wine Guide

Greener Planet Shiraz-Merlot- Cabernet Sauvingon 2006 $11.00

 

RATING: SERVE TO GUESTS 

Bought this wine simply because of the “organic” handle and of course…it was cheap.  Oh yeah, almost forgot, it was also a cabernet blend from France.   How bad could that be?   Truly deserving of a Wine Quest!  We all know that “green is good” right?  We also are all pretty wary  though of”green for good” vs “green for market share” right?  At the highest level we can appreciate the thought that returning earth’s product back into earth is just common sense. Not abusing or poisoning the planet…Ok, I get that too though I really am 100% sure that this means different things to different people.  With all that confusion in my head …I needed to open a bottle of wine.  So with some wariness in mind I opened up the Greener Planet wine we bought while Sams Diving the other day.  Let it breathe for about 20 minutes (I got thirsty…sorry!)  and broke out a nice open tumbler to give it a try.  (Thought: Organic wine being served in crystal didn’t feel right and a paper cup was way too college… though I do still eat cold pizza for breakfast.)  At the same time I opened the website listed on the bottle and checked it out.  On the bottle is listed: www.prestigewinegroup.com.  Hmmm..a search for “Greener Planet” came up blank and these other offerings don’t look very green.  Suspicion slowly began to enter in.  Then I Googled (got to love it when your company becomes a verb…unless it’s something like being “Enron’ed” I guess.) the name on the bottle greener planet.  What came up was pretty much what I expected to see.  Earthy tones, simple parchment paper as a background to simple fonts, single URL (flash?).  The site has no SEO effort  underway which in today’s world is unique in itself (title reads: ”Untitled Document” as an example),  “maybe this winery really is organic” I thought.  As I read on it was apparent that the founders, Olivier Azan and his wife Floriane, and their winery have gone to great lengths to deliver upon that promise.  Listed was certification from: http://www.ecocert.com   After three forgotten years of high school French (though the teacher was HOT and I am sure she very impressed with me at 14) I was encouraged to accept their credentials.  Let’s get on with the Quest though.

WHAT OTHERS SAY:   From the Maker

“The wine is a blend of organically grown Shiraz (40%), Merlot (40%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) grapes grown near the medieval walled city of Carcassonne and the Montagne Noire – the black mountain - at the western end of the Parc Naturel Régional du Haut Languedoc.  Bringing these three grape varieties together is far from traditional in this part of France or elsewhere, but it creates a harmonious wine that combines peppery spice and flavours of wild berries. It would go perfectly with flavoursome red meat or vegetarian dishes. ”

WHAT I THOUGHT: I was very impressed with the round slightly fruity flavor of this wine. The taste had cab written all over it, top of the tongue, roof of the mouth, great aroma.  I will admit that I did enjoy this wine with a vegetarian-like meal, Lays Barbecued Potato Chips.  (no meat in those right)  Nothing but first class for the Wine Oaf.  Next time though I will probably go with the plain Lays so as no to overpower the wine.  Seriously though, this was a great Quest.  I would really recommend this wine not only for the taste but also the added conversation bonus.  If you are entertaining really boring people, you can discuss everything about organic wines I have included for your reading pleasure on the associated links. Guaranteed to make the evening just speed on by.

In this post I tried to include several links that might be informative to those interested in organic wines.  Because in the words of our friend Kermit, “It’s not easy being green!” Have fun.