French wine's new wave: 3 Bandidos, Jet Lag, Tasty

WASHINGTON, Mar 10 (Reuters) The new wine comes in a bottle that positively screams Old Mexico: fake bulletholes on the label, a story that links it to Pancho Villa and the swashbuckling name Los 3 Bandidos.

Strangely enough, it's French.

Los 3 Bandidos is one of dozens of French wines looking to move into the lower-end U.S. wine market. Many on offer at this week's French Wine Road Show are aimed at younger consumers who may not know the difference between a grenache and a merlot -- they just want something to drink with barbecue ribs.

How does it taste? ''Like the first thirst-quenching drink after two days in the Sonora desert,'' according to promotional copy describing the Bandidos Syrah Rose, which ''jumps out of the glass, all raspberry and spunk.'' Spunky or not, it is made in southern France, and while its heritage includes one Jesus Navarro -- reputedly the right-hand man of 20th century Mexican revolutionaries Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Venustiano Carranza -- it is being marketed by Gabriel Meffre, a winemaker based in the village of Gigondas since 1936.

''These young people do not like traditional concepts'' in wine, said Andree Ferrandiz, who manages the wine-trading firm Somacvins DF Service. ''They prefer to be caught by something special, a new concept of what the consumer wants to find.'' They also may be pleased with the price. Most of the wines displayed expect to retail between 8 dollar and 10 dollar.

At the wine tour stop at the French Embassy in Washington on Wednesday, Ferrandiz offered her own concepts for 20- or 30-something customers: Ch3, a white wine that combines Chenin, Chasan and Chardonnay grapes; Ca3, a red wine blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Caladoc; and So Fruity, which is, well, fruity.

Others are also moving away from wines named for the grapes that go into them, or the chateau where they are grown, and toward something catchy, young and different. Like XL Wines' Jet Lag.

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