wine tasting

we went to l'Echanson for their new series of wine tastings with the producers. This one was with Arnaud Freychet from Domaine Massereau in Sommieres. He had an impressive line of wines and was a really nice guy. I'm always a little nervous that despite my best intentions, I will end up saying or doing something that will offend the vintner. This is his passion, after all! Anyway, we tried his rosees, which I liked, but really loved the COTEAUX DU LANGUEDOC ROUGE 2001 (90% syrah and 10% grenache) and the oak cask aged "LES CISTES" COTEAUX DU LANGUEDOC ROUGE 2002 (same proportions). It mentions that the nose is dominated by fruits rouge confit and finishes with garrigues and anise for both wines. The 2002 is a big, impressive taste, full of winelikeness. I can't wait to try them with desert cheeses and steak. I also bought a very expensive bottle of single malt scotch : the Ardbeg 17 year old to celebrate signing my contract.