This wine is quite the cheekiest I have seen for some time and in a sense perhaps I should not condone it. But then Harlan Estate (the right-hand bottle in the picture), whose proprietary Napa Valley red sells for hundreds of dollars a bottle is probably a fair target for a knock-off at under $10 in the US (see www.paulmas.com of Ch de Conas near Pezenas); Italy (one of the winemakers is Giorgio Grai): and Australia. This last comes via Lado Usnashuyli who is part of the winemaking team. He was born in Soviet Georgia but has been making wine in Australia for the past 20 years, notably at Patritti Wine Cellars in South Australia.
The majority of the grapes (just 2.6 tons per acre, we're told, so only about 40 hl/ha) come from the relatively heavy soils of the village of Puicheric in the Minervois and the rest from much cooler, more calcareous Limoux which may be responsible for all that freshness. Quite what constitutes the 'estate' of La Forge is a mystery, but this wine sure is good value.
In the UK, the wine retails for between £5.49 and £5.99 from the following:
Wimbledon Wine Cellars – London (tel 0208 5409979)
Itswine.com – Aylesbury (tel 01296 682600)
Hop Inn stores – Reading (tel 0118 9885155)
Butlers Wine Cellars – Brighton (tel 01273 698724)
Jolly Vintner – Devon (tel 01884 255644)
The Wine Press – Carlisle (tel 01228 515646)
Stratford's Wine Merchants – Cookham (tel 01628 810606)
In the US it's available at under $10; see 01/04/03