L’Abbaye de Saint-Ferme

Wine: L'Abbaye de Saint-Ferme.

Grapes: Merlot (70 percent), cabernet sauvignon (20 percent), cabernet franc (10 percent)

Region: Bordeaux, France

Vintage: 2006

Price: $6.99

In the glass: L'Abbaye de Saint-Ferme wine is a deep semi-opaque crimson-red color with a dense core going out into a light, velvety red rim definition with medium viscosity.

On the nose: There is soft, crushed, mixed red and black berry fruit at first, then the wine reveals lovely cassis interspersed with oak characteristics, buttery phenolics and touches of herbs and fruit-driven minerality.

On the palate: It is rounded and velvety on the entrance, but then expands into supple, crushed blackberry, marionberry and sloe fruit. The midpalate is silky and fine with no obtrusive tannins, and the wine is soundly structured going into a lingering, slightly oak- and mineral-laden finish with touches of violet pastilles. The classic and drinkable wine pleases in every way.

Odds and ends: L'Abbaye de Saint-Ferme wine is another powerful showing for the region that produces the greatest wines in the world in volume. As great a vintage as 2005 was, the follow-up vintage was perhaps a bit more classic Bordeaux, stylistically at least. When looking at the top wines of the vintage, the '05s are going to be pricey and remain investment objects, while the '06s are going to be more of a ready-to-drink type of wines. The packaging of L'Abbaye de Saint-Ferme looks great, too. For less than $7, it is a tremendous value and a worthy dinner wine for any occasion. It is a solidly made wine that should be good through 2015. Try it with lamb chops grilled and served rare like in France.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749, or e-mail him at gil@winevegas.com.