Approachable Value Wines from Arrogant Frog

Last week I discovered four solid value wines from Domaines Paul Mas through an #ArrogantFrog twitter tasting. Fourth-generation vintner Jean-Claude Mas launched the Arrogant Frog brand in 2005 and all wines are priced at $10. The wines come from the Languedoc region in southern France and are labelled Vin de Pays d'Oc - meaning "country wine". But don't think these wines are plunk. Mas stated that in order to gain traction in the value wine market a $10 wine wine be worth $20 and from my tasting these wines fit within this range. Each of the wines below were approachable, likeable, and consistent for that grape variety. 

• 2013 Arrogant Frog Sauvignon Blanc  - grassy grapefruit on the nose and palette with some creaminess. Mas says creaminess comes from the maturity of grapes (combination of acids, sugar, flavors at harvest) plus three months on less.
  
• 2013 Arrogant Frog Chardonnay - pineapple and vanilla aroma and flavors finishing with lemon acidity. 25% was fermented in new American oak and and underwent malolatic fermentation.
  
• 2013 Arrogant Frog Pinot Noir - toasty cherry aroma; some earth and lift - medium tannins. Mas stated that this is a red wine masquerading as a white wine. The oak treatment was 60%-40% American-French oak. The grapes were harvested at night and then processed through cold maceration to extract flavor without tannins and fermented at cold temperatures. Aged in  neutral oak.
   
• 2013 Arrogant Frog Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot (55%-45% blend) - layers of blueberry jam aroma - slight spice; mocha (almost raspberry chocolate) - very soft. Another 60%-40% American-French oak with some staves.