I knew the wines, I'd tried them before, albeit a number of years ago, and I thought it was time to revisit L'Orangerie de Carignan and Firefinch Ripe Red. Both Bordeaux blends, these wines come in at a tenner each and used to offer decent value for money. I decided to try these wines blind(ish) and asked a colleague to pour me one and hope that he didn't give me the same wine twice and I'd make a fool out of myself!Wine 1: Soft cherry fruit, a little bit of green pepper coming though. Some bacon fat, and then some sweet berries - almost some sweet & sour sauce. The palate has spiking alcohol, some restrained cherry and cassis, a nice medium weight body, some liquorice and leather too. A fuller finish, tannins gripping a little and then some sour cherry and blackcurrant leaf that would say 'new world to me' but the restrained fruit on the midpalate made me think that this was the L'Orangerie de Carignan Quite good. 8/10
Wine 2: From the first sniff, the second wine is sweeter. It has that burnt rubbery nose that I'd expect from South Africa, and then with lots of sweet green pepper and some slightly compost like aromas. The palate is darker, more savoury with some veggies - cabbage and dark liquorice. The fruit is there but very hidden. It does feel a little restrained which would mean that I'd think it was French but the nose still takes me to South Africa and I think this is the Firefinch. OK, and worth the tenner, but only just. 6.5/10
Wine 1 was 2007 Sprinfield Firefinch Ripe Red
Wine 2 was 2007 L'Orangerie de Carignan
So I got it wrong.
Drat.
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