Mas des Dames, "La Diva" 2007 - Roberson Wines

The full story of how this bottle of wine from Roberson Wines, apparently intended as a gift from Avneet to some unspecified person, got to me will probably never be fully known.

In short, wrongly and inconsistently addressed, it turned up at work and was eventually passed to me - and with scant information about who the correct intended recipient was, I merely thanked my lucky stars and took it home vowing to give it at least proper right-up in return for my good fortune.

That was quite a while ago now, but we finally got round to opening it up the other night to try, finishing it off the following day with a Sunday lunch of slow-roast free-range chicken rubbed with a mix of chopped sage, rosemary, thyme with olive oil, salt and pepper.

A blend of Syrah, Grenache and the little-seen Alicante from the Languedoc, it is an appropriately autumnal wine.

Dark purple in the glass, there are musky-truffley aromas with dark fruit and oaky vanilla spice.

On the palate, there is more elderberry and black cherry fruit, garrigue herbs, a food-friendly acidity and lovely inky texture.

On the first evening, I find it rather good, but with the roast chicken the following day, it has improved and feels like a perfect match to earthy sage and sweet crispy parsnips roasted in chicken fat.

With greater aeration, it seems to have opened up more, become even more complex and interesting - a final half-glass with the evening meal saw it at a peak. Overall, very good and very enjoyable.

So if your name is Avneet and a gift bottle of wine never reached your intended recipient, know at least that it serendipitously found a good home in Cambridge and was much-appreciated.

£14.95 / £144.00 for 12 (£12.00 each)

Links

http://www.robersonwine.com/shop/la-diva-2007-mas-des-dames