Carignane is an odd little red grape. It’s used mostly for blending -- in California to produce jug and inexpensive red blends, and in the Rhone region of France, where it’s the poor cousin of syrah, grenache and mouvedre.
This single-varietal carignane, from Dallas' Time Ten Cellars ($15), shows the grape off to nice advantage. It has a funky, Rhone-like aroma (wine types call it bacon fat), but plenty of New World style fruitiness, including a big dose of cranberry (something to keep in mind come Thanksgiving). It’s not especially tannic, and the alcohol is a well-done 13.8 percent. This makes it an ideal red wine for hot summer days and good barbecue, be it pork or smoked chicken.
And don’t be confused about the grape’s spelling. It’s carignan in France and carignane in the U.S.
Some food and wine notes:
• The monthly master wine dinners at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, put together by esteemed sommelier Barbara Werley, are highly recommended. Werley matches a variety of interesting and not always common wines, spirits and beers with five courses. I did it a couple of weeks ago, and Werley found a Spanish white I had never heard of, a vintage Hugel riesling from Alsace, and a couple of French reds that were as surprising as they were excellent. The dinners aren’t cheap (count on about $100 a person), but if you’re looking for something fun and different -– say as a gift for the wine drinker in your life -- they’re worth the money. Call the restaurant for information, schedules and reservations.
• The closing of Lakewood’s Kitchen 1924, plus Tucker near downtown, takes away two of Dallas’ best reasonably-priced wine restaurants. Kitchen 1924 always had some terrifically priced white Burgundy, while Tucker offered wines that didn’t show up on many restaurant wine lists.
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