Château De Treviac Arnaud Sié 2011 - Corbières Red wine

Last Friday we visited  the Côte restaurant in Covent Garden which is part of a chain. We had a pastry chef with us and he felt that the food was more than acceptable and the rest of us agreed.

http://www.cote-restaurants.co.uk/

We ordered a bottle of Château De Treviac 2011 - Corbières red AOP from the Languedoc  and were impressed by the wine. It was smooth and silky and, dare I say, it  was quite elegant. The wine is made from Syrah and Grenache grapes and of course it was fruity with a hint of spice. The tannin had softened nicely and the wine had a complex and concentrated taste: it went down well with the food - especially the duck.

The hot summer sun in the Languedoc produces wine which is quite strong in alcohol and at 14.5% this wine could have tasted "hot" but the alcohol was well integrated into the body of the wine. All in all it was a good quality wine but at £20 + for a bottle it was well marked up as you can buy it on wine-searcher for £6 a bottle retail. I did not feel, however, that we had been cheated and I have happily drunk wine of a much lesser quality for more money in other restaurants.

It is not often that my friends remark on the different qualities of wine without being prompted by me but before going to the restaurant we had visited a wine bar and had drunk a bottle of Sicilian wine made from the Nero D'Avola grapes. This wine had a much fuller body and was more concentrated but had a slightly rustic quality. I thought it was delicious.

I was just about to comment that the Château De Treviac was lighter and smoother when one of our friends beat me to it and her son, the chef, agreed but he still stuck to drinking beer. My friend is awarded a Winejaw star for being so observant.

Some people are prepared to pay 17 US dollars for this wine and they probably will not be disappointed at the elevated price. In the Languedoc this good quality wine would, however, be much cheaper.

http://www.nataliemaclean.com/wine-reviews/chateau-de-treviac-arnaud-sie-2011/207306

The wine on the above website gets a score of 91/100 and this is fair as far as I can taste but would a 92/100 wine taste that much better?

I prefer my rating: Château De Treviac is good quality wine but not exceptional or outstanding but it is worth trying a second bottle.