Les Muretiers Reserve Syrah

Who said you have to pay heaps for a good French red? Not us and definitely not Master of Wine Steve Bennett who’s made a career out of travelling the globe and finding spectacular wine bargains to bring back to NZ. He makes finding great value European wine as easy as ABC.

Here’s three more letters – LGI. It’s the brainchild of Frenchman Alain Grignon from the Languedoc region in the south of France. Alain’s vision was to produce wine for the international market that offered great bang for your buck. Winner of “Best French Still Wine Producer” of the year at the prestigious Berliner Wein Trophy three years running in 2017, 2018 and 2019 – magnifique!

Les Muretiers translates to “the wall workers” and reference to the ancient stone walls that surround the vineyards in the rocky terroirs between the Montagne Noire (Black Mountains) used to produce this extremely delicious bottle of Syrah.

It certainly got the master tick of approval from Paul Tudor (also an MW aka Master of Wine) who gave it 95/100 and said this…

“Every now and then you come across a relatively low-priced wine that stops you in your tracks, you know: “That cannot be that price?” or “Perhaps they mislabelled this?” This is one of those once in a blue-moon wines, an amazing expression of one of the great red varieties and it isn’t eye wateringly expensive. Deep purple, youthful in colour, the nose boasts rich fruit aromas, dark cherry, raspberry, with pastille and chocolate undertones. Medium weight in terms of the palate, but there is concentration and generosity all the way through, juicy and savoury at the same time, with firm but elegant tannins on the finish. Fruity yet structured wine that will work in nearly every drinking situation. Gold medal wine at a ridiculously low price.”

Packaged in a heavy weight Burgundy bottle, the label looks slick and the wine inside is absolutely gorgeous. This is super star Southern French Syrah for under $20!