60% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah. 50 year vines, 9 months in vats.
The Alary web site recommends cellaring for 2-5 years. Whoops. But 2000 was a big fat year that seems to have merited long-term cellaring, and besides, this wine was off in pro storage sleeping in the security of its big brother. The wine looked almost black in the glass. Notes of herbs and black fruit wafted slowly. It was soft on the palate, not desperately fruity nor necessarily having entered any revelatory secondary phase, but there were still some tannins present on the cheek (and plenty in the bottle), and all in all it was a pleasant glass of dark red wine with a fairly hefty structure. Though this might have been a tad more interesting a year or two earlier, it was certainly not over the hill.
Domaine de l’Oratoire Saint-Martin, Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Haut Coustias
60% Mourvèdre, 20% each Syrah and Grenache. 65 year vines.s 24 months in oak.
A somewhat brighter color in the glass than its sibling, with the nose a little “cleaner” and certainly more fruity, offering up dark plums alongside the herbal notes. A much more pronounced depth to this wine that the Reserve, a clearly defined quality and purity; still plenty weight to the wine with even more meat in the background than the Reserve. The finish was pure and silky. I felt like maybe this wine got rushed a bit over dinner with guests; I’m sure I could have savored it much much longer.And while it could probably have gone longer in the cellar, it was drinking extremely well right now. As always with the Alarys, a lovely wine.
My reviews aren't up to much I'm afraid, so I'll let the picture do the talking for me...
