La Galinière Merlot  2004, V.d.P. des Coteaux de Peyriac

Colour: medium intense red with some browning in the rim.
Nose: medium expressive, soft and warm, with sweet ripe and raisiny fruit, a touch of aniseed, some spices, tea, herbs, alcohol and smoke, well balanced, modern, clean, not deep or refined, but attractive.
Taste: full-bodied, round and soft, with a mild acidity, obvious alcohol, clean and ripe almost confit (raisiny) fruit (berries), a touch of liquorice, some minerals and damp warm earth, some spicy tannins, medium concentrated, lacking a bit in freshness, but nevertheless sufficient balance.  Easy drinking and modern, the (ripe) tannins offering just enough grip.
Finish: not very long, mild, soft, round and a bit alcoholic, but with nice and sweet raisiny fruit with impressions of liquorice, spices, smoke and a balancing touch of tannin.
 

* This is a well produced, easy drinking "new world style" wine offering a smooth, full-bodied taste with a lot of very nice, ripe, raisiny and spicy fruit, not complex, deep or very concentrated, but offering a lot of pleasure and a clean, but slightly alcoholic character.

- Delicious now, and will remain so for at least a year, maybe two.  Do not expect this wine to improve in time, the subjectively low acidity in combination with the high alcohol content may affect the current good balance in time.
 

- This is the 10-th vintage of this wine (produced by Château du Donjon Minervois) I have tasted. From a bit sturdy and earthy, concentrated style this wine has developed into a new world soft and easy drinking style. Personally I prefer a bit less alcohol and a bit more "character" in the wine, but all the other ingredients in this wines are so attractive I decided to select it. It gives a lot of pleasure for a very modest price.
Jean Panis is a very conscientious and reliable wine producer, most of his wines are very clean and well produced, his emphasis is on an easy, clean and supple style in which beautiful fruit stands out. Starting with the vintage 2002 he adopted a more environmental friendly way of vineyard cultivation: following the Vitealis rules.
 

- lotnr.: L 05 166

- tasted: 01-02-’06

- estimated retail price ca. 5 euro

- average production: ca. 30.000 bottles

- Château du Donjon, Caroline & Jean PANIS, 11600 - Bagnoles, tel : +33 468 77 18 33,  fax: +33 468 72 21 17 ,  e-mail : jean.panis@wanadoo.fr web site: www.chateau-du-donjon.fr
- Export agent: D.A.D., Z.A. La Plaine 8, Avenue de l’Europe, 34830 Clapiers (France), tel.: + 33-467 55 90 90 / fax.: + 33-467 55 06 36 / e-mail: info@dad-languedocwines.com / web site: www.dad-languedocwines.com