04. WOTW - Gayda, En Passant

This week I have a bottle of 2018, En Passant from Domaine Gayda in the Languedoc, France.

En Passant comes in either a red or a white, and the label and wine is based on Iggy Pops classic rock anthem ‘The Passenger’. Each vintage comes from a different vineyard, with different grapes and produces different flavours each time. The 2019 bottle is also now available.

A blended wine of 80% Syrah and 20% Cinsault give a fruity, rich red wine that paired perfectly with our dried meat platter and pizza evening. Syrah on it’s own is a heavily tannic wine, and at Gayda they barrel age the Syrah before they blend to ensure that it is softened and textures are more creamy. Blending it with Cinsault gives it the most amazing fruity aromas of cherry, red berries and blackcurrant. The Oaked Syrah helps balance the fruit out with vanilla and black pepper

The best way to enjoy this bottle is to open the bottle and leave it for a couple of hours before drinking to allow the wine to open up - even better, decant it! I have a simple decanter that I bought from Oliver Bonas, which I use as a table piece but also to open up my wines (often opening the bottle just as I start cooking, decanting it, and leaving it on the table before dinner). If you don’t want to use a decanter though, try just pouring your wine into a measuring jug! I promise it will work just as well :)

I got this wine from Vin Neuf Wines in Stratford upon avon, which is well worth a visit.