Chateau Grande Cassagne

Stopped by my friendly wine merchant for some brewski for the upcoming college football opener (it's 3+ weeks away, but one can never start too early!), and found this on special for 8.99 - Chateau Grande Cassagne "G.S." 2005 Costieres de Nimes. Not going to attempt WTNs because the habanero chile I had with supper has set fire to my taste buds, but from the taste of the wine I had before crunching the fire-bomb, I like it! Glad I got two bottles, and may go for more when the wife's not looking! It's a blend of Grenache and Syrah, in the Rhone Valley near St. Gilles.

Robert, I have had this wine, and for $9 it is hard to beat. I think I had their white wine also, and I think it might contain quite a lot of colombard, but that is not a grouching point with me.

I'm on my 3rd glass, and it just keeps getting better. I think I'm stopping by the store again tomorrow evening.

My notes on this one:

2005 Château Grande Cassagne Costières de Nimes “G.S.,” 13.5% alc., $9.99: My better half absolutely LOVED the 2003 version of this dark garnet colored Grenache-Syrah blend; she called it “her wine,” and I was fortunate that she shared several with me, because they were very tasty. This one is a fine follow-up, with fairly ripe earthy black plum, currant and berry, shaded with some herbaceous notes and just a hint of chocolate, showing solid concentration, structure and length. I got the last glass from the bottle a few hours after it was opened and it’s drinking quite nicely, but there’s no reason to think that it won’t do well with three to five years in the cellar.

Cheers,

geo

My notes on this one:

2005 Château Grande Cassagne Costières de Nimes “G.S.,” 13.5% alc., $9.99: My better half absolutely LOVED the 2003 version of this dark garnet colored Grenache-Syrah blend; she called it “her wine,” and I was fortunate that she shared several with me, because they were very tasty. This one is a fine follow-up, with fairly ripe earthy black plum, currant and berry, shaded with some herbaceous notes and just a hint of chocolate, showing solid concentration, structure and length. I got the last glass from the bottle a few hours after it was opened and it’s drinking quite nicely, but there’s no reason to think that it won’t do well with three to five years in the cellar.

3-5 years sounds about right to me, Geo. I've had various cuveés from Grande Cassagne going back to the late '90s, and this Grenache-Syrah blend (which obviously can't be explicitly stated on the label if they want to label it as AOC wine) is usually a QPR winner. Great BBQ wine, f'rinstance.

To Robert R.: saying that it comes from the Rhone Valley isn't really accurate. It comes from the area known as the "Bouches du Rhône" near the mouth of the river and there's no valley to be seen there. It's a broad delta but the grapegrowing regions are in the hills to the west of the delta.

Pedantically yours,
Mark Lipton

I agree ... my brief (3-year) experience with this wine has been quite favorable. A reliably good wine for the price. -- Clark

I was gonna go after work today and pick up some more, but decided that fighting the PGA traffic to get there wasn't worth it!