'95 Rhone & the Sud Tasting -
Saturday, Feb 28, 1998
Results from a Rhone tasting at the Wine Exchange in Orange, CA. Tasted 21 wines from mostly Southern Rhone appellations were poured. Considering I probably use Phelps' "Le Mistral" as some sort of benchmark for Grenache or Mourvedre blended wines, this group from the south of France provided a great deal more rusticity to my palate. In fact, this event could have easily been named the Sherwin-Williams Classic, for the amount of paint, varnish, and lacquer aromas I found in most of the wines. And yet, I didn't find that this aroma really detracted from any of them, unless it completely predominated or took the place of the fruit. Rather, this aroma seemed to enhance the nose, and punctuate the wine's rural origins.
The wines, in the order tasted:
'96 Dom. La Tour Boisee - Minervois. $9.99 Garnet color. Nose of raspberry and pomegranate fruit, with additional notes of paint (let's call it garnet paint). Hint of vinegar in empty glass. Tastes very fleshy, but also a bit tight and thin. Some bitterness noted on a smooth finish. This wine is probably a victim of the '96 vintage.
Aroma score: B
Taste score: B+
Overall score: B
'95 Ch. Sainte Eulalie - Minervois. $8.99 Medium dark garnet with purple overtones. Shoe polish, raspberry, boysenberry - very deep and delectable. Very fleshy, spicy, and floral on palate. Smooth mouthfeel, without any cloying sweetness. Nice medium-long finish. Might be the best bargain of the bunch. Plus, who can resist pronouncing Ooo-la-lee several times?
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A-
Overall score: A-
'95 Borie "La Vitarele" - St. Chinian. $9.99 Dark purple garnet color - almost like a petite sirah. Nose a bit shy, but with obviously ample fruit. Notes of paint, varnish, lacquer, and paint thinner. House painters will absolutely love this wine! Huge, slightly tannic mouthfeel, chewy and fruit-filled bomb. Touch of stemminess on its very long finish. A little less Sherwin-Williams in the nose, and this would've clearly been a killer wine.
Aroma score: B+
Taste score: A
Overall score: A-
'95 Ch. St. Germain - Coteaux du Languedoc. $6.99 Dark garnet color. Nose of pomegranate, with floral qualities, and paint. Slightly stemmy quality, with substantial mouthfeel to its obvious grenache fruit. Very smooth and seamless in the mouth, with a trace of heat on its long finish. 7 bucks? And, it's not from Chile?
Aroma score: B+
Taste score: B+
Overall score: B+
'95 Ch. Lascaux "Les Nobles Pierres" - Coteaux du Languedoc. $12.99 Medium garnet-purple color. Major blackberry fruit and vanilla, with hints of paint qualities. Stemmy fruit in its fleshy mouthfeel. Clean, long finish with even a snap or crispness, and a delicious spicy aftertaste. What a great wine for 13 bucks!
Aroma score: A
Taste score: A-
Overall score: A-
'95 Prieure de St. Jean de Bebian - Coteaux du Languedoc. $21.99 Dark purple-garnet color. Heavy and massive nose of spice, shoe polish, paint, and floral qualities. Stemmy and chewy thick fruit, with a smooth and softly tannic mouthfeel. Wow! Mostly Syrah.
Aroma score: A
Taste score: A
Overall score: A
'95 Dom. Brusset Cairanne - Cotes du Rhone Villages. $8.99 Medium garnet-purple color. Somewhat shy nose of blackberry and shoe polish, with a hint of paint and floral tones. Excellent fruit, fleshy mouthfeel, with some stemminess on its long finish. Another hot bargain!
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A-
Overall score: A-
'95 Caudelet de Beaucastle - Cotes du Rhone. $16.99 Light extract, with a ruby garnet color. Nose of floral notes, paint, and pomegranate, with almost a warmth or earthiness to it. Thin mouthfeel, though still quite fruity on the palate. There also seems to be a quality of volatile acidity and alcohol in its feel. Crisp bite with good acids, this would probably be an excellent food match. There really weren't any defects per se in this wine, it just didn't please my senses as much as many of the others.
Aroma score: B+
Taste score: B+
Overall score: B+
'90 Dom. Berard "Rascassas" - Cotes du Rhone. $9.99 Muddled, tea-like red ruby color. Slightly shy blackberry and floral nose, with additional notes of varnish. Mature tea-like components on the palate, with a stemmy and fleshy quality. A bit thin feeling, with a crisp long finish that show a trace of heat. The stemminess on the back palate is a decided plus. The mature mouthfeel and taste of this wine is quite nice. But, given its age, I'm not sure the nose will change much for the better.
Aroma score: B+
Taste score: A-
Overall score: B+
'95 Dom. de la Mordoree "Cuvee de La Reine de Bois" Lirac. $13.99 Medium dark garnet. Big nose of blackberry and shoe polish, with a hint of varnish. Lovely fleshy and stemmy mouthfeel. Ripe, sweet and succulent fruit that starts to approach vintage port and is quite chewy. Long finish. Wow! What a great taste and aftertaste. Kill-er!
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A+
Overall score: A
'95 Dom. Brusset "Les Hauts Montmirails" - Gigondas. $21.99 Dark purple garnet color. A fleshy warm and earthy nose, with hints of shoe polish and paint. Floral and paint flavors on this slightly tart, young, softly tannic mouthfeel. Astringent and stemmy, long finish. I think this wine will show much better with age.
Aroma score: B+
Taste score: B+
Overall score: B+
'95 Bosquet du Papes - Chateauneuf de Pape. $17.99 Slightly brownish garnet color. Beet, tea, pomegranate, and boysenberry nose. Fleshy and slightly stemmy fruit, and a real delight. Fruit fades out very gradually on its long smooth finish.
Aroma score: B+
Taste score: A-
Overall score: A-
'95 Dom. De la Vieille Julienne "Reserve" - Chateauneuf de Pape. $25.99 Purple garnet color. Shoe polish, blackberry fruit, hint of beet and paint. Big fleshy and stemmy mouthfeel. The fruit just goes on forever through its long spicy finish.
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A
Overall score: A
'95 Chapoutier "La Bernadine" - Chateauneuf de Pape. $19.99 Light extract with a mature tea garnet color. Shoe polish, paint and floral nose, with a touch of beet. Sweet and fleshy with just the slightest hint of earthy and vegetal qualities. Great mouthfeel and taste with a very long finish. Wow! The color of this wine was very misleading.
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A+
Overall score: A
'95 Dom. De la Terre Ferme - Chateauneuf de Pape. $18.99 Tea garnet color. Beet, shoe polish, paint, varnish, and floral notes. Very sweet fruit and mouthfeel, with flavors of tea, raspberry and vanilla. Approaching Port in its ripeness. After the initial rush of the fruit's sweetness, a slight watery quality is noted on the palate. Long finish.
Aroma score: B+
Taste score: A-
Overall score: B+
'95 Clos St. Michel - Chateauneuf de Pape. $19.99. Dark garnet. Nose of shoe polish, beet, paint, and cocoa. Fleshy and stemmy fruit; sweet but not overly so. Nice seamless finish and after palate, with plenty of fleshy stemmy fruit throughout. Very, very nice, this wine really grows on you.
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A+
Overall score: A
'95 Dom. de Banneret - Chateauneuf de Pape. $24.99 Dark garnet color, hint of purple. Gorgeous nose of blackberry and shoe polish. Hey, no beet! Young, yet smooth mouthfeel, seamless fruit, long finish. Hint of bitterness on finish. No cloying sweetness here, just fabulous wine.
Aroma score: A
Taste score: A
Overall score: A
'94 Dom. Clavel "La Copa Santa" - Coteaux du Languedoc. $n/a.($11-14) Dark purple garnet color. Blackberry, beet, shoe polish, paint, and lacquer. Young mouthfeel; fleshy and stemmy fruit.
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A-
Overall score: A-
'95 Ch. Cazeneuve Fut du Chene - Pic St.Loup. $17.99 Very dark purple garnet color. Exceedingly deep and massive nose, of spicy blackberry and boysenberry fruit, with just a hint of leaf and/or beet. Voluptuous, huge, and fleshy mouth full of wine. Double wow! What a sleeper! 100% Syrah.
Aroma score: A+
Taste score: A+
Overall score: A+
'95 Dom. Sorin - Bandol. $23.99 Purple and inky with some garnet tones. Nose, in two words: Ab Fab. An almost overwhelming mass of fruit with shoe polish nuances. Very young mouthfeel, yet quite smooth. Huge, chewy, chunky fruit. Solid stuff! Mostly Mourvedre.
Aroma score: A
Taste score: A+
Overall score: A
'95 Gerin "Champin le Seigneur" - Cote-Rotie. $33.99 Purple garnet. Blackberry, briar, and shoe polish nose. Stemmy and fleshy fruit, smooth mouthfeel. Fruit fades slowly through its long finish. Syrah. (I didn't detect any obvious Viognier in this wine.)
Aroma score: A-
Taste score: A-
Overall score: A-
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Overall impressions: very enjoyable as well as informative tasting of some of the currently available '95 Rhones. One of the things that surprised me here was the huge crop of bargain wines that I found toward the top of my rankings. Since this was not a blind tasting, I had specifically avoided looking at the prices so they wouldn't influence my impressions. Another surprise was the beet aroma I detected in the Chateauneufs. Good thing I like beets. As with the paint qualities, I didn't find that the beet aromas detracted from the wines. Heck, it probably wasn't really beet anyway, but was some sort of result from the blending.
There were a couple of Syrahs in the tasting, both of which were quite impressive. In fact, the Cazeneuve was my favorite wine of the day. The CDP's for the most part were also impressive, especially the one from Chapoutier. Price-wise, the Languedoc's are starting to climb up there with the CDP's, but there are still many bargains and lovely wines at something below $12-13.
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Here is my relative ranking by tier of the wines tasted.
|
'95 Ch. Cazeneuve Fut du Chene |
Pic St.Loup |
$17.99 |
|
'95 Prieure de St. Jean de Bebian |
Coteaux du Languedoc |
$21.99 |
|
'95 Ch. Sainte Eulalie |
Minervois |
$8.99 |
|
'95 Ch. St. Germain |
Coteaux du Languedoc |
$6.99 |
|
'96 Dom. La Tour Boisee |
Minervois |
$9.99 |
|
|
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Mail & Comments - Eric Anderson
