Origin: Cotes du Rhone, France
Grape: 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre
Year: 2016
Alcohol: 14.5%
Price point: $13
Year Reviewed: 2019
This has got to be my all-time favorite MSG wine. It is 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah and only 5% Mourvedre. I think I am enjoying the greater percentage of Syrah in this Red Rhone blend. Most of the grapes are hand harvested, year after year and this wine has won awards year after year. Syrah give it structure and spice, but I am getting something so elegant in this wine, more than I have in other GSM’s I have tried. Taste is so personal, and reading others opinions of this wine, they feel it is young and just average. I, on the other hand,
Clear deep ruby with a first hit of medium aromas of herbal mint and medicinal, leather and earthiness.. I continue to pick up other aromas such as some vegetal –like mushroom and forest floor with cedar and tobacco. On the palate, you will get just a nice blend of some smooth tannins, flavors of sour cherry (the Grenache), but some spice and fullness, with interest, the Syrah.
A nice long finish that holds the tannins surrounding your upper lip for over 1 minute and the sour making your inside cheeks water. This wine has won many accolades over several years. Watch for this on the shelves, as it is gaining interest.
This winery has been active since 1925 in the southern Rhone region. Grown in that well-known clay and limestone soil, indicative of this terroir and matured for 12 months in concrete tanks with some oak treatment. This wine has been pretty stable and solid year after year. Let it breathe a bit, 1 hour, before its full potential is unleashed.
I am anxious to try the other array of wines from this winemaker. (Some shown below, but visit their website.)
