THEWINEMONOLOGUES.COM: Domaine Lafage Cote Est

Domaine Lafage Cote Est

I was in my local Whole Foods store recently and came across this brightly colored bottle of golden goodness. The label and the packaging jumped out at me from the bin next to all the other "boring" bottles of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. There was no sign near the bottles describing what the varietal of the wine was nor could I find any personal help from a wine retailer to assist me in my quest for information. The label does not disclose the identity of any varietals, only that it is obviously a French wine from Domaine LaFage in the Languedoc. The importer is Eric Solomon, whose wines I do enjoy, so I was confident, but still at a loss for what this wine was going to taste like. I was in a bit of a hurry and the golden "sunshine" coming from this bottle was calling me to give it a shot. So I took a chance (trusting Whole Foods to at least stock "good wine") and bought this "unknown" (at $10.00 per bottle it was not that big a risk). Was I ever happy I did!

I did a little research and discovered that this beauty is from the Catalan region in the Pyrenees of southern France, just across the border from Spain. The golden blend is 60% old vine Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Marsanne, fermented and aged in stainless steel to preserve the fresh, lively fruit flavors and aromas.

The first sniff of this wine was interesting. . . I got "cat pee", which is not necessarily a bad thing, floral bits, and some lemon-lime aspects. On the taste I found peach, grapefruit, lemon-lime, and lots of minerality with a good sweet citrus finish. This was a truly enjoyable find for me.

Interestingly, I went back to Whole Foods not long after and some bottles were still left. No sign. . . just the golden color of the label and the wine. I did not need to ask anyone about this one. Sometimes it pays to take a chance. If you see this one, set beside some other "boring" bottles in the near future, give it a shot, what the heck!