WTN: Southern Rhones

Fred's turn to host our local wine group, theme was Southern Rhone. I picked up and drove to Fred's home (I always drive there, but never home!). Fred had a nice spread with a pheasant pate, several cheeses, radishes, sausages, etc as well as some lamb-stuffed tomatoes.

He had the 2009 St Cosme Cotes du Rhone blanc out for a starter. I've not been a fan of most St Cosmes I've had lately, and am not a big white Rhone guy, but this wasn't bad. Floral, round, oily, but enough acidity to keep lively. B/B-

On to the red wines, all blind.

Wine #1- well this one wasn't blind for me, as I brought it. Herb and underbrush, rich red fruits, moderate acids, leather, earth. Guesses were mostly CdP, good CdR. 2001 Coudoulet du Beaucastel Cotes du Rhone. B+

Wine #2- Cherry, earth, fairly light, a bit soft. 2007 Fenouillet Cotes du Rhone Villages Beaumes-de-Venise (I've had Muscat BdV before, my first red). B-

Wine #3 - Slightly overripe flavors, a bit short. 2006 Domaine de la Croze Granier Lirac . B-/C+

Wine #4 -Ripe sweet fruit, big, tannic, needs a bit of time. 2006 Mordoree Lirac . B

Wine #5- flat edge, seems tired but without a lot of developed aromas, ripe fruit, old CdP? 2001 Guigal Chateauneuf-du-Pape. B-/C+

Wine #6- red fruit, more lively than some, bretty, but more of the leathery/barnyard style than the full fledged poop. Well within my level of tolerance. 2009  Ch. Virgile (Costieres Nimes). B

Wine #7- fairly fresh, red fruit, hint of herb. Nice, though I was thinking CdR. It's actually a Chateauneuf du Pape. Actually, that's what the label says- just 2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In the teeny tiny print it say
Raoul Clerget , with a 30210 code (Gard, not that far away). B

Wine #8 - low acids, big, a hint of brett, not my fave. Turns out I've had couple times before (though I don't remember brett), the 2007 Brunel "Sabrine" Cotes du Rhone Villages. C+/B-

Fun night with the guys. Betsy swung by on the way home from opera, gave several of us rides home. I've gotten less enamored with S. Rhone over last decade, but some fun wines.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

 

Hi Dale,

Looks like a disappointing bunch from a cursory reading.

Côtes du Rhône is the direct competitor of Bordeaux and most people (including me) think that the former is usually better value for money than the latter.

However, this is not exactly a hard and fast rule...

Alex R.

Côtes du Rhône is the direct competitor of Bordeaux and most people (including me) think that the former is usually better value for money than the latter.

Alex R.

You surprise me there, Alex. I consider that S.Rhône has food pairing uses quite different from those of Bordeaux, though some right-bankers do try to rival it in alcohol. The S.Rhônes are much more suitable for spicy fusion type food and, of course, Mediterranean influences, both of which are becoming more popular here.

I would have been less disappointed than you with that tasting judging by Dale's notes. No stellar performers but some solid B's.

Tim,

When I say that Côtes du Rhône is the direct competitor of Bordeaux, I mean in a marketing sense.

When a consumer leaves the vin de table/vin de pays segment, he progresses to appellations from the South of France and then either Bordeaux or CDR (talking here of bottles costing 5 and 6 euros a bottle, not La Landonne and Château Margaux!).

Best,
Alex

Alex,
as Tim notes some wines I liked. But the other factors are:

my tastes tend to not be especially fond of Grenache (I tend to prefer Northern Rhones to Southern). I tend to like acidity more than most. I think some of the low acid wines were better regarded by some others.

I'm in several tasting groups, and this is by far the most casual. There's ultrageeky me, Fred who is geeky enough to have a moonlighting job as a rep for a distributor/importer, and then the rest of the guys. For them it's mostly boys night out. Couple have cellars, but most buy a couple o bottles a week. So this was mostly randomly chosen wine, most had never tasted their own selection. Doesn't tend to be the best of the best. Same would probably apply if we had done lower end Bordeaux. If I could have chosen 8 Southern Rhones, we would have had some Texier, Montirius, etc and my average would have been better.

my tastes tend to not be especially fond of Grenache (I tend to prefer Northern Rhones to Southern). I tend to like acidity more than most.

Dale, I basically go along with your preference for Northern Rhône and greater acidity. I can't think of any S.Rhônes on my personal Olympus of unforgettable wines whilst there are several from the North.

I do like, though, what S.Rhône can give in the way of uncomplicated wines for frequent drinking, in spite of a tendency towards excessive sweetness of fruit and heaviness (both Grenache attributes) in some vintages, e.g. there are several cases where I prefer the unfashionably acidic 2008s to the "great" 2007s.

In some rare cases, S.Rhône Grenache does seem to be capable of approaching a Burgundian style of sybaritic elegance. Château Rayas spings to mind, but at a much more modest price level some of the wines of Domaine Gramenon from the North of the South also have that quality.

Otherwise the most convincing, for me, S.Rhône cuvées are those with a lot of Mourvèdre to stiffen the blend.