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More wines available from Fat Bastard
750ml
Bottle:
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A beautiful ruby-red color with rich and opulent aromas of black currant, crushed blackberry, cinnamon and pepper...
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An elegant, pale golden color with aromas of vanilla, hazelnut and toast. A full-bodied Chardonnay with bright, fresh...
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Merlot is one of our most popular varietals and we work extra hard to achieve the wine’s quintessential...
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Intense, cherry red in color with fruit-forward flavors of crushed strawberry and wild raspberry followed by delicate...
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Dark ruby in color with a spicy and fresh nose containing tints of olive. Unctuous on the palate with a robust body...
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Winery
Fat Bastard
Vintage: 2012
2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in.
The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
Varietal: Merlot
Merlot has long been a grape associated with excellent quality of character and flavor, and has spread around the globe as a result of its relative hardiness and reliability. From Chile to Bordeaux, Merlot vines grow to ripeness, and end up producing a remarkably wide variety of wines. Single variety wines made from Merlot grapes tend to be beautifully rich in color, and packed full of jammy, hedgerow flavors and notes of plum and currant, and ideal for newcomers to red wines as a result of their medium body. This medium body comes about due to the fact that the skin of Merlot grapes tends to be quite thin, meaning that the tannin content of Merlot wines is lower than those made from other blue-black grapes. The mellowness and roundedness which results is ideal for blending, also, and Merlot is used as a blending grape in some of the world's finest wineries, to produce aged wines of exceptional character.
Region: Languedoc Roussillon
If you've ever drank and enjoyed a French wine, there is a high chance that it hailed from Languedoc Roussillon, a hugely important historic wine region which produces over a third of the country's wine each year. Indeed, the output of Languedoc Roussillon even exceeds that of the entire United States, and has hundreds of thousands of acres of land under vine, growing a wide range of red and white grapes. Languedoc Roussillon is one of the oldest and most important wine regions in the world, with a history which stretches back over the millennia to the ancient Greeks, who adored the warm and humid Mediterranean climate which is ideal for viticulture. From still red and white wines, to dessert wines and crémants, Languedoc Roussillon truly has something of quality and character for everyone, and every palate.
Country: France
French winemakers are subjected to several laws and regulations regarding the wines they produce, and how they can be labeled and sold. Such procedures are designed to increase the overall quality of the country's produce, and also to ensure that wines made in each particular region or appellation are of a character and type which is representative of the area. Thankfully for consumers of wine world-wide, the French have a particularly high reputation to uphold, and seem to do so flawlessly. Every year, wineries from all over France produce millions upon millions of bottles of fine wine, making the most of their native grape varieties and the excellent terrain which covers most of the country. From the expensive and exquisite red wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, to the white wines and cremants of central France, the French are dedicated to providing the world with wines of the highest quality and most distinctive character.