Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The blog returns from hiatus. First up - Rhones

Ok, so it wasn't anything I announced or really planned, but things got so busy for a while that blog updates disappeared for a while. Hopefully things will start to get back on track now. With a lot of traveling and other events, I truthfully haven't had a ton of wine at home of the last month or so, which means I shouldn't be too far behind. I'll begin by recapping the Rhone wines I've had over the past several weeks.

First up was a Gigondas from the cellar - a 2001 Domaine Brusset le Grand Montmirail. This wine was definitely in need of drinking, and starting to fade. The first night the wine was ok, but by the second the soy characteristics were starting to overtake it.

Next was a wine from a great Gigondas producer, but was just a Cotes du Rhone. The 2007 St Cosme Cotes du Rhone is really coming into its own now. Made from 100% Syrah, the wine is dark, full-bodies and not as hot as many of the predominately Grenache-based Cotes du Rhones that have needed time to settle. It's definitely a recommended bottle.

I next went back a year for the 2006 Domaine les Aphillanthes Cotes du Rhone-Villages Cuvee Trois Cepages. As I've noted before, this wine shows that 2006 is a great vintage as well, and shouldn't be overlooked. It remains available on markdown and is a great value.

The final wine was the 2007 Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine Lirac. While not as well-known (or expensive) as the top names from Lirac, this wine is still quite impressive. Again, with the 2007 vintage it's hard to go wrong, and this wine is a great value from one of my favorite appelations. Liracs don't age as well as Chateauneufs, but they have an elegance that I don't find in any other Southern Rhone appelation other than CdP, so it's well worth seeking these wines out. I've managed to grab a couple more bottles of this to have over the next few years.

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