Results from a Rhone and Languedoc tasting - Saturday, January 22, 2000, at the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Nineteen wines were poured for a tasting fee of $12.

The wines, in the order tasted:

'98 Domaine des Aspes Viognier Cuvee la Mouline - St. Chinian. $11.99. Faint lemon-yellow color. Nose of lemon, lime, peach and pear. Substantial mouthfeel, slightly tart fruit, nice finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'98 Domaine Sorin Rose - Cotes de Provence. $9.99. Salmon color. Nose of strawberry and cinnamon. Slightly tart fruit, long finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'98 Chateau Rouquette sur Mer - Coteaux de Languedoc. $7.99. Violet ruby garnet color. Jammy nose of black raspberry, shoe polish, and anise. Moderate, fruity mouthfeel. Mouthwatering finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'98 Chateau Negly La Cote - Coteaux de Languedoc. $8.99. Very dark purple color. Nose of black raspberry, plum, black cherry, and lots of a shoe polish quality. Big Zin-like mouthfeel and taste, and lengthy finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

'98 Mas de Aveylans Syrah. $9.99. Very dark ruby purple color. Nose of black raspberry, cedar, rose/violet floral notes. Sweet mouthfeel and taste, off-sweet long full finish. The fruit never quits and the mouthfeel is substantial.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

'96 Domaine Guy Sauvanes Faugeres. $7.99. Dark violet purple color. Nose of jammy black raspberry, with some shoe polish and floral qualities. Tart or sour fruit, medium-long finish. Syrah, Grenache, Carignan. Has an interesting nose, but the fruit seems too tart or green.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'98 Domaine de la Martine - Cote du Rhone. $6.99. Almost an aged ruby garnet color. Sweet toasty fruity nose. Warm and fruity mouthfeel, but only medium palate coverage. Medium-long toasty finish
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'98 Font de Michelle - Cote du Rhone. $11.99. Medium ruby garnet color. Phew! Something borrowed here from Cloudy Bay - loads of sweaty lemon and cat pee in the nose. Tastes of cedar and oak, with a slight raspberry flavor.
Aroma score: C Taste score: C+ Overall score: C+

'98 Le Gramenon - Cote du Rhone. $10.99. Light ruby garnet color. Nose of perfume, raspberry, and flower stems. Fleshy off-sweet fruit, and slightly thin mouthfeel. The color and extraction level tells it all.
Aroma score: B- Taste score: B- Overall score: B-

'98 Domaine le Brunely - Vacqueyras. $9.99. Medium garnet ruby color. Nose of blueberry, blackberry and onion - sweetly pungent. Oaky and coarse mouthfeel, but with mouth coating fruit, and long toasty finish
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'97 Domaine Sainte Anne - Gogondas. $14.99. Medium dark garnet ruby color. Sweet juicy nose of raspberry, black cherry, vanilla, and toast. Toasty soft fruit on the palate, with an earthy, leathery warmth to it. Doesn't quite deliver what the nose promises.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B Overall score: B

'97 Chateau Valcombe La Sereine - Cote du Ventoux. $19.99. Dark ruby garnet color. Complex, earthy, herb-driven nose. Semi-sweet mouthfeel, juicy and stemmy tasting fruit. Sweet mid-palate, and long toasty and tannic finish. Very nice. Mostly Syrah, with a dollop of Grenache
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

'97 Paul Avril Clos du Papes - Chateaunuef du Pape. $23.99. Medium garnet ruby color. Nearly closed nose with slightly steely aromatics. Sweet toasty mouthfeel, soft and smooth on the palate, with a nice grip at the finish.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'97 Brunel Les Cailloux - Chateaunuef du Pape. $21.99. Medium dark garnet ruby color. Warm raspberry and strawberry tart nose. Sweet gripping mouthfeel, some raisin and prune that gets sweeter and toastier with time. Nice and tasty, but with a noticeable overripe quality to it.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

'97 Chateau Beaucastel - Chateaunuef du Pape. $34.99. Medium dark garnet ruby color. Sweet, jammy and fruity nose. Warm off-sweet fruit, with slightly grainy tannins. Long powerful finish, but the best of the fruit seems left behind.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

'97 Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage. $14.99. Violet ruby garnet color. Nose of black raspberry, shoe polish, and Gerber strained carrots. Waaah! Tart sweet-sour mouthfeel and fruit. Gets sweeter tasting at back palate, with an unmistakable carrot taste through finish. Bet this wine helps you see better after dark.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'97 Alain Paret Saint-Joseph Rochecourbe. $16.99. Dark violet ruby color. Nose of blackberry, and raspberry. Off-sweet blackberry fruit, nice palate coverage and long finish. Just a bit too tart.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B Overall score: B

'97 Saint Cosme Monstalier - Cote Rotie. $44.99. Dark violet ruby color. Quite herbaceous nose of carrots, stems, overripe plums, and floral notes. Blueberry and blackberry fruit on palate, decent mouthfeel, long finish. The melange of aromas and flavors seems to work quite well, and the components are generally integrated nicely. But the mouth is merely average, the nose wanders a bit, and I expected "...more of everything" from a $45 Cote.
Aroma score: B Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

'94 Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle . $47.99. Dark garnet ruby color, with some noticeable age at rim. Nose is a mass of cocoa, bittersweet chocolate, shoe polish, and Ovaltine. Flavors of black raspberry, blueberry, with lots of stemminess. Huge long mouth-coating finish, with lots of fruit and acid hanging on for dear life, unsuccessfully avoiding being swallowed.
Aroma score: B+ Taste score: B+ Overall score: B+

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Overall impressions: with all the hype about '98 Rhones, I had to try the current crop of wines available from the North, the South, and the Languedoc. Well, they were all good-very good, although nothing was really excellent or outstanding. The first "whoa" in the tasting came from a $10 Syrah. The Mas de Aveylans has substantial fruit and is an incredible bargain. And, the Negly shows that it can be a dependable wine in each vintage, at an incredible price. The Font de Michelle has to represent a new low - cat pee in a red wine. Bah!
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Here is my relative ranking, by tier and in order of preference, of the wines tasted.

'94 Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle . $47.99
'98 Mas de Aveylans Syrah. $9.99.
'97 Chateau Valcombe La Sereine - Cote du Ventoux. $19.99.
'97 Chateau Beaucastel - Chateaunuef du Pape. $34.99.
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'97 Brunel Les Cailloux - Chateaunuef du Pape. $21.99.
'98 Chateau Negly La Cote - Coteaux de Languedoc. $8.99.
'97 Saint Cosme Monstalier - Cote Rotie. $44.99.
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'97 Domaine Sainte Anne - Gogondas. $14.99.
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'98 Chateau Rouquette sur Mer - Coteaux de Languedoc. $7.99.
'97 Paul Avril Clos du Papes - Chateaunuef du Pape. $23.99.
'98 Domaine le Brunely - Vacqueyras. $9.99.
'98 Domaine des Aspes Viognier Cuvee la Mouline - St. Chinian. $11.99.
'98 Domaine Sorin Rose - Cotes de Provence. $9.99.
'97 Alain Paret Saint-Joseph Rochecourbe. $16.99.
'96 Domaine Guy Sauvanes Faugeres. $7.99.
'98 Domaine de la Martine - Cote du Rhone. $6.99.
'97 Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage. $14.99.
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'98 Le Gramenon - Cote du Rhone. $10.99.
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'98 Font de Michelle - Cote du Rhone. $11.99.

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