Red Wine that Tastes Like the Smell of Dirt

[jarona]

Well..that is the only way I can describe wine that I love. I'm not a wine expert and would love to surprize my honey (who is French) with a great woody, dirt tasting, full-bodied red wine that won't give a headache. However, I have to take what I like into consideration b/c I'll be drinking it as well.
(I'm bad--LOL).
So if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

[graddini]

Spanish Wines are noted for their sense of "terroir" as are many of the wines listed by your friends here. Whereas New World winemakers have (until recently) tried for more generic flavor profles, Old World winemakers see terroir as an essential part of the wine's flavor. Try a Priorat or a Montsant or any wine from Alvaro Palacios. Wet black slate is one of the descriptors of these wines and they can be intense and powerful.

[JeremyEG]

I sometimes taste dirt in better quality Riojas. Try a Muga Reserva maybe?
JeremyEG
homecooklocavore.com

[capeanne]

Pommard equals Barnyard .....that's how I remember not to order it....don't like that taste at all

[Iowaboy3]

Nothing like a good Madiran (Mourvedre) with some fresh road-kill.

[MOREKASHA]

Retsina from Greece.

[Eiron]

My favorite is Beaulieu Vinyards' Rutherford cabernet. Very full-bodied with lots of dirt, but not so much wood/loam.

[ReeseChiarlo]

Some of my favorite "dirty" wines come from South Africa:

2 options for you:

1. Onyx Syrah

2. Rust en Vrede Cabernet or Merlot
(side note this wine was served at President Nelson Mandelas Nobel Peace Prize Dinner). Cocoa, cherry, dusty, hints of vanilla. A great wine with rustic meats.

[Chinon00]

Second Madiran

[CocoaNut]

This, coming from someone who isn't a wine-drinker, but knows dirt when they taste it..... Try a Delaney Cab or Chardonnay. Several years ago, I went to a wine tasting and made the "dirt" comment to a friend. The comment was overheard and in a most snooty tone, I was rebuked with a retort of: It is classed as an "earthy" wine. ! Well, I guess I was told the what-for!

In any case.... prove your honey wrong with a dirty TX wine!

[budnball]

I'm from Northern California and most of my wine knowledge comes from here. My first Chateauneuf de Pape smelled and tasted of a barnyard which, I was told was the point. It was not bad but different.

[hsk]

I like "earthy", but I never liked "barnyard" unless it's just a hint.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettano...

[WtotheN]

A friend thinks most Argentine Malbecs taste of dirt.

[jarona]

Oh Merde! This is better than I would have expected. I've some more questions--since honey is a "french" wine snob and feels that the only wines worth ingesting are french. (For me, as long as they taste like the smell of dirt and I don't get a headache, I'm fine-o). The Bandol and Chors--are they French wines? Is Gigondas French--some of these sound Italian and Spanish. the Vacqueras really piques my interest. But the Dunn Cabernet--it has a leathery kind of taste? That's even better. You know, this is just so weird--When I was a kid, my favorite flavor for drinking was chocolate--in milk and in egg creams. Now I find myself drawn to wine that tastes like dirt and earth and leather--is this normal?

[sunshine842]

Bandol, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Cahors, Madiran, and Chinon are all French. (Honest!)

Bandol (bahn-dole), Gigondas (zhee gawn dahs), and Vacqueyras (vah-kay-rahs), are all produced in Provence (southeast), Cahors (ka-ors) and Madiran (ma-dee-rahn) come from the southwest, and Chinon (shee-nahn) from the Loire (south of Paris).

[ChefJune]

Leave the "sses" off the ends of those appellations They're all silent (like the "p" in fish).

[SteveTimko]

Parisian French has the S as silent. If you're from Provence, you pronounce it as a z.

[sunshine842]

ChefJune, I'm with Steve...and I'm not going to tell my Provencal winemaker friend that she's pronouncing the name of her product wrong.

[bclevy]

Even in Paris, Gigondas and Vacqueyras are usually pronounced with
an audible "s". On the other hand, the "s" of Cahors is always silent.
I would also add that the "an" and "on" sounds in Bandol, Madiran
and Chinon are rather harsh and hard to reproduce for English
speakers.

[sunshine842]

but if you can get reasonably close, usually people know what you're trying to say. The French are far more forgiving of bad pronunciation than they're given credit for.

[BN1]

I don't hear the "s" in Vacqueyras.
http://www.forvo.com/word/vacqueyras/#fr

[Chinon00]

Will this pissing contest end?

[BN1]

In traveling all over the Rhone Valley and into Burgundy the last two years, I’ve found that pronunciations are very important. The people we have met do not speak English and have little patience trying to understand broken French. Although I completed French 4 in college, my basic French was taught to me by a French Canadian, which is nothing like French in France. The French spoken in Provence is a dialect that Parisians have trouble understanding, like English in the southern US. I’m headed to Tours in a couple months, where I’ve been told that people are fussier about pronunciation than Parisians. I’ve had trouble making myself understood when ordering wine, so I’ve been trying to learn to speak French wine terms correctly. So your pissing contest is my important understanding for my trip. I’ve found this thread very interesting.

[SteveTimko]

do you say nu ore leans or nah lins?

[BN1]

I'm trying to teach myself to say nah lins.

[sedimental]

Now, now Chinon00.....
is that "pissing" with one "s" or two???????

[ibstatguy]

if you want a Vacqueryas, look for "Sang des Cailloux"; year in and year out one of my very favorite wines.

[bclevy]

Malbec (aka Cot) is also the grape used predominently for Cahors. But
Argentinian Malbecs tend to be rounder and more polished. Cahors needs to be aired
a long time and comes off as slighly rougher but a tad more powerful. It is the
perfect wine to accompany rich food like duck or cassoulet on a cold winter night.
Since Malbec from Argentina and Cahors are close relatives, it is not too
surprising they would both evoke dirt.

[SteveTimko]

Southern Rhones to me taste like plants, not dirt.
I vote Burgundy.

[bclevy]

I disagree. Cab Francs like Chinon taste like vegetables, like Carmenere from
Chile. That green veggie taste is absent from Rhones.

[SteveTimko]

I was think garrigue.
http://en.mimi.hu/wine/garrigue.html

[ibstatguy]

i've gotta vote with Steve on this

[sedimental]

If you are looking for an nice aged wine.... a Dunn Cabernet always tastes like mossy/dirt/leather /cedar to me...in a nice way. They can be found on winezap or wine commune for around 100 bucks.

[jock]

most chilean reds taste and smell like dirt. but imo not in a good way.

[bclevy]

Dirt tasting is subjective. Cahors, Bandol, and Gigondas are all great suggestions,
but if you are looking for powerful and rustic wines, you might want to add Vacqueras and
Madiran to the list.

[sunshine842]

I was trying to think of Vacqueyras, but it was getting late and I wasn't inspired to look it up.

Vacqueyras most definitely can have some dirt-y and barn-y aromas.

(One of my *ding-ding-ding!* moments when tasting wine (when I began to "get it") came in the Touraine region - they brought out a red that had been nicely oaked, and one smell brought the images of wet autumn leaves to my mind. The vintner was a little amused by my level of excitement, but happy to see the lights go on!)

[ChefJune]

Don't forget about Chateauneuf-du-Pape! Nice and dirty... in the best way. ;)

[Bill Hunt]

Jock,

I am with you. Though they produce and export great quantities of wine, I have found but two, that I would actually buy.

I often describe canned poi as tasting like "dirt," and that does hold for Chilean wines too. Now, good, fresh-pounded poi is a different story.

Hunt

[sunshine842]

Try a Gigondas for dirt.

[Brad Ballinger]

Oh, what the heck, I'll play... Cahors for dry dirt, and Bandol for moist earth.