Arrogant Frog Delivers French Taste And Value At Dizzying Heights

Pays d’Oc is a picturesque region in the south of France that has low hills, rolling land – and great values in wine.

Simple Pleasures

Arrogant Frog is part of the wine portfolio of Domaines Paul Mas. These are French wines from the Languedoc region where "country wine,” also called IGP wine, is produced.

The wines are crafted to highlight the “Luxe Rural” spirit of the south of France. We recently sampled the 2016 vintages of Arrogant Frog Cabernet-Merlot and Chardonnay. Each retails for $9.99, making them outstanding values.

Climbing to New Heights

We packed the two Arrogant Frog bottles on a recent rustic cabin trip to West Virginia’s Seneca State Forest. The highest point in this remote park is the Thorny Mountain Fire Tower, at a height of 3,458 feet. Recently the Division of Natural Resources converted the fire tower building into a sleeping accommodation – three of our friends opted to spend the night there.

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Our entire group went to the hilltop for a cookout and to check out the scenery. The Arrogant Frog climbed to the top of the tower with me and enjoyed a magnificent mountain panorama. Down at the base of the tower, friends were putting together a bison burger cookout.

Value And Fun

The Arrogant Frog Chardonnay is actually a blend of 85% Chardonnay and 15% Viognier. This adds some white flower notes to tropical fruit and peach flavors. The bottle has a screw closure for easy opening when you are on top of a fire tower – or a more day-to-day setting.

Thirty percent of the Chardonnay grapes get three months aging in oak barrels before being blended with the rest of the grapes, which are finished in stainless steel tanks. This keeps the brightness, but allows for a dash of complexity.

The red Arrogant Frog is a blend of 55% Cabernet and 45% Merlot. This was an ideal blend with the bison burgers. Like the Chardonnay, the Cab-Merlot blend gets a light oak treatment with 25% of the wine being aged four months in oak. The result is smooth with rich blackberry flavor and spicy notes.

As the sun went down we reveled in the changing colors from our spot high in the West Virginia hills. We didn’t have high end crystal glasses, but we enjoyed other luxuries – comradery, stunning surroundings and some pretty good bison burgers.

Arrogant Frog provides an easy-going, elegant style. This is one form of arrogance we can readily embrace.

Full disclosure: This wine was received as a marketing sample.