The 2010 Revelation Cabernet Sauvignon (55%), Merlot (45%) is a Trader Joe’s $4.99 exclusive sourced from the Languedoc region in southern France. The wine is produced by Badet, Clement & Co., 4th generation winemakers working in Burgundy and the Languedoc. This wine is “Mis en bouteille dan nos caves,” meaning bottled in our cellars, indicating just that, they bottled the wine but didn’t grow the grapes or produce the wine. This is Negociant wine, which has a long history in France, a Negociant purchases excess wine from producers and relabels the wine under their own label. Sometimes they take wine from more than one producer and blend the wines together creating something unique and other times all that changes is the label. This is also classified a Pays d’Oc wine, which means it didn’t meet one or more of the standards to labeled a Languedoc AOC wine. That does not mean it is a bad wine, it is more likely to mean that they made the wine to appeal to American wine buyers, so it does not meet all the French criteria. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The color is ruby red with black highlights. The nose is somewhat muted, a little plum, a touch of cocoa powder, some faint coffee bean. A medium bodied it starts with blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate, this wine has balanced flavors, it is definitely not a fruit bomb. The mid palate adds creamy vanilla, tart raspberry and sour cherry. Not bad for a $4.99 wine. The tannins are evident, they provide decent structure, but they stay out of the way of the fruit flavors. The acidity is balanced and strong enough for the Revelation to be a good food wine. The finish is tart and sour berries and it manages to linger until you take the next sip.
The Revelation Cabernet-Merlot is a perfectly fine Languedoc Red wine that just happens to sell for $4.99. Other than the price there is nothing about this wine that says five dollars. It will pair well with all but the heaviest dishes and it drinks very well on its own. If it sold for $15 you probably would not be overly impressed, but at $4.99 it is a revelation
