2005  Château  Fonguillon L’Enclos.   Here is a straight-from-the-shoulder Bordeaux at a reasonable price.  It is a merlot-based wine, frank and unadorned.  It is made in AOC Montagne St-Emilion which is the largest satellite of the august St. Emilion region.
L’Enclos smells of leather and brass.  The taste is dark and not sweet with a tannic undertow.  The wine is pleasantly rough around the edges.   There is a little bitter chocolate at the end as the wine becomes more dilute in your mouth.  Because it is a merlot, it is less angular and forceful than a cabernet.  This one is still close to the earth — more jacquerie than premier cru.
This is a wine made to serve with dinner on a week night.   I tried it with ribs, grilled chicken, and barbecued beef — all fine.  Drinking it with chicken was a bit shameless, but who was watching?  I liked it best perhaps with pizza because it stood up so well to sausage and onion.
Dedalus offers this sturdy child of the French soil for $14.75
Tuta 6/26/09