2010 Chateau d'Oupia Minervois

This week I popped a bottle of 2010 Chateau d'Oupia Minervois to accompany pasta with a homemade tomato sauce and chicken cooked in olive oil and white wine vin. I had tasted this wine briefly at work and wanted to bring a bottle home to give it a bit more focus.
 Chateau d'Oupia (which I will refer to as d'O from here on out) is a producer from the Languedoc-Rousillon in south-east France. They are below and to the right of the Rhone Valley. This is a region that is quickly brushed over in the wine classes I've taken as the Languedoc is mostly a bulk-wine producing region. Most wine books say it's an up and coming area ... and that's about it. In the Languedoc they use similar varietals as the Rhone Valley- Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Carignane among others. This blend is 50% Carignane, 30% Syrah and the remainder Grenache. This region is fun because you can grab great Rhone-style wines at a fraction of the price. I was first attracted to this wine because d'O was one of the pioneering wineries to campaign for Minervois' Appellation status in the early 1970's. The then wine maker Andre Iche started keeping his fruit (which most vignerons sold to negociants and co-ops) and focused on making quality wine from great real estate in Minervois. He, along with a few other producers, began to change the face of the Languedoc wine game. His daughter now continues the family legacy. I prefer these types of wineries who grow their own grapes or have a CLOSE relationship to their vineyard managers rather than those who outsource. It seems to me to be a huge disconnect if one is making wine from a material you don't know much about. Just kind of a missing piece to the relationship. Anyway- enough waxing poetic....
 The nose of this wine is a trip. It opens with dark cranberry- it brings to mind cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving dinner. That red fruit is quickly cloaked by dark fruit and herbal/spicy oak. The fruit aromas are so clean and fresh that it almost seems like it's a fabricated chemical but remember it's just great fruit. When I smell the oak on this wine it is so well integrated that it was hard to know when I started smelling it- I just realize all of a sudden oh, that's the barrel. It makes me picture big trees in forests in France. (I have never seen this countryside before, but that is just where my mind takes me). There is a deep and brooding cassis and blackberry made complete by a collage of spices. Imagine walking into the house when someone is making a pie and you smell clove, cinnamon and baking spice... everyone from the rack is here.
 For a 2010 this has a really polite and inviting palate. It is quite smooth and has a medium weight that falls on your palate like a puffy blanket that stretches out in all directions. The tannin makes an appearance but gently dismisses itself and allows the acid to fill in the cracks. The transition is so gentle and subtle I almost missed the trade-off. This structural duo accompanied the acid and fruit of my tomato sauce beautifully. I found myself continuing to eat out of flavor enjoyment rather than hunger. The palate fruit was very much like the nose- it opened with brighter notes and was then finished off by dark berries, anise and wood shavings. The longer this sat out the more the flavors melded together for a harmonious ride beginning to end. I was sharing this with my sister, Jessica and her notes were "maroon velvet square". Direct, to the point... and cute. Needless to say, this bottle didn't see the light of day.
  This is a really cool find and just over $20 on the shelf. It may be bottom-o-the-bottle nostalgia but it really amazes me at times that liquid grapes can smell and taste so good!