Chateau Mayne Guyon – Old Reliable

The smooth, balanced and subtly complex Chateau Mayne Guyon from Trader Joe’s.

80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon from Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.

The Chateau Mayne Guyon is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s in the U.S. and sells for $7.99. Imported by Plume Ridge.

From the winery:

To make a good wine you must first start with good grapes. Because wine is made by the transformation of the sugar in the grapes into alcohol through the process known as alcoholic fermentation, the complexity of the wine in the bottle is cultured by the daily work done in the vineyard throughout the growing season. Regular tasting of the grapes is necessary to insure that the grapes reach their fullest potential.

A well balanced wine. It reveals a beautiful deep ruby robe with purple hints. In a first step, the powerful and complex nose develops notes of mellowed oak, roasted coffee and vanilla. With swirling, it reveals generous notes of red fruits such as cherry, black currant and blueberry.

13.5% Alcohol

It’s always interesting to revisit a wine after three vintages, especially one from Trader Joe’s, because you never know what you might get. Some of our absolute favorites have deteriorated miserably while others stand the test of time. The Chateau Mayne Guyon, thankfully, falls solidly into the latter category.

The 2014 Chateau Mayne Guyon begins with an excellent aroma of plum, black cherry, strawberry and a little cranberry. It also features secondary notes of anise, leather, tobacco, mint and just a hint of earth. It’s quite a bouquet for an $8 wine. Tasting reveals a balanced wine with a fabulous subtle complexity to it. There’s also plenty of juicy, sweet red and dark fruit flavors similar to the nose in this medium-bodied beauty. Smooth and easy to drink, the wine even has a bit of a chalky mouthfeel that turns into lingering graphite minerality on the long, dry finish. Fantastic! Overall it’s a tad oakier than we remembered the 2011 to be but a bit of air evens things out nicely.

As always you can find an updated list of our recommended wines from Trader Joe’s as well as more info on their pricing model and some tips and tricks for shopping the store here.