Is this any good?

My local shop is advertising the 2012 Lafage Tessellae Carignan Vieilles Vignes for $11.99. Has anyone tried this? I've had real hit-or-miss experiences with carignan, so I was curious on which end of the spectrum this particular offering might fall.

[Jenise]

Tom, the last person to write it up on CellarTracker liked it quite a bit:

8/6/2014 - Dagalaifus Likes this wine: 90 Points

This Carignan from old vines is made by the dynamic team of Jean-Marc Lafage and Eric Solomon, who are well known for producing wines with an outstanding QPR (e.g., Evodia). The wine is dark garnet with a redolent nose of rhubarb pie and cherry. On the palate, the wine is fruit-forward, and medium-bodied with the same rhubarb pie and cherry, as well as blackberry, Christmas spices, white pepper and floral flavors. It has a medium-length finish and did not improve after exposure to 24hrs of air; accordingly, I would imbibe now, rather than waiting for it to improve in the cellar. Like Evodia, this wine has a great QPR -- I paid $12.99 for the bottle at a discount retailer. I respectfully, disagree with other tasters characterizing the wine as completely lacking in complexity. Does it have the nuanced nose and panoply of vibrant flavors of a CdP in a stellar vintage? -- Of course not. But you'd be hard pressed to find a French red in the $12 price range that's as good as the Tessellae.

Thanks for that, Jenise! I guess I'll give it a shot

In my experience with purchased wines that I find for the first time in a store, it is advisable to wait about 3-4 weeks after purchasing before opening. Often these wine have just arrived at the retailer's store and will benefit from a few weeks to reestablish themselves into what they were designed to be. This is a problem with wines from WTSO, Cinderella, and other "flash sites". So in all fairness to your new wine, it would be smart to sit on your hands for a few weeks to give this wine a chance to show it's best. Please report back.

In my experience with purchased wines that I find for the first time in a store, it is advisable to wait about 3-4 weeks after purchasing before opening. Often these wine have just arrived at the retailer's store and will benefit from a few weeks to reestablish themselves into what they were designed to be. This is a problem with wines from WTSO, Cinderella, and other "flash sites". So in all fairness to your new wine, it would be smart to sit on your hands for a few weeks to give this wine a chance to show it's best. Please report back.

Thanks for the advice Richard, will do!

I have to say though, I don't think I've ever personally seen a "value wine" - or for that matter, any younger wine at all - suffer from bottle shock that requires a rest to rectify. Usually it's only the ones that have thrown a sediment, which needs time to re-settle. That's been my experience, anyway. But who knows, maybe since I've never tried a comparison with the younger specimens I'm in err there. So again, thanks!