Time for me to make a confession here: I enjoy trying strange wines. I saw this one at K&L in Hollywood, and thought: what the heck? Biodynamically farmed, no idea what grape it is, vin de pays d’Oc usually doesn’t bode well, and this is fifteen bucks? Well… how bad can it be? Let’s try it!First of all, I’ve never seen a plastic cork printed with mis en bouteille au chateau before. In the glass, this is a strangely colored wine – it looks kind of like watered down chocolate syrup or maybe thin soy sauce. Very strange. On the nose, there’s an odd, grapey note, but mostly it just smells like old school inexpensive French wine… to a point. It seems fairly simple: fraises de bois, maybe a little bit of tar or pepper, but not much more than that. With a little time and air, it began to remind me of a nebbiolo more than anything, somehow. In the mouth, it seemed fairly light in body – almost Beaujolais, but not quite. It’s got definite varietal characteristics, but of what exactly? It’s very appetizing, with kind of a woodsy, dark feeling to it that isn’t exactly wood, but more like what it feels like to be drinking in a mountain cabin with good friends in the dead of winter. In fact, the more I think about this wine, the more it reminds me of German digestifs somehow – it feels almost medicinal, tending towards Becherovka rather than Bordeaux. I do like it, though, and it does get full marks for being entirely sui generis. Would I buy it again? Probably not – it is kind of expensive – but I’m glad I did.Domaine Beau Thorey