2004 Perrin & Fils Côtes du Rhône Villages Vinsobres Les Cornuds, 50% Syrah, 50% Grenache, $18.99, 14% alc.: Dark garnet, fading to pink at the rim, with a generous nose of rich, ripe and earthy black plums and berries that follows through on the palate with plenty more earth and formidable structure; a leathery note emerges more and more with air, helping to shape the character of the wine. If you must drink this now, give it at least an hour in a decanter and grill some good red meat to go with it, but really, five to eight years in the cellar would do this one justice, and it’ll be a much better wine for it. Grapes de-stemmed, with Syrah macerated in truncated tapered wooden vats with cap punching and pumping over, and Grenache in stainless steel tanks, then blended after malolactic fermentation. Matured in stainless steel (80%) and two year old barrels, with six months bottle aging before release.
2004 Perrin & Fils Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau L’Andeol, 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, $18.99, 14% alc.: Dark garnet in color from rim to rim, with solid, straightforward flavors and aromas of black plums, currants and berries, anchored with an earthy core and shaded with notes of briar bramble and a certain meaty quality; it seems to show a hint of the 10% cask maturation on the nose, but not in the mouth. Full bodied, dense, well structured and yet accessible as it smoothes out with some time in the glass, it will age and improve over the next three to five years, or you can decant it for an hour now and enjoy it with grilled red meats or a hearty stew.
2004 Perrin & Fils Gigondas La Gille, 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, $26.99, 14% alc.: We’re suckers for good Gigondas at our house, and this dark garnet gives further testimony as to why; it’s all underbrush and earthy, leathery black fruit aromatics shaded with a note of tar, with plenty more of all of the above in the mouth, fleshing out with an hour’s air to morph into a pretty nice glass of wine. Full bodied, well structured and reasonably long on the finish, with more and more leather as it opens; indeed a few hours does wonders for this, but still, it’s a ten year wine, so its best days are well ahead of it. Like the last few noted here, give it some air if you have to drink it now, and pair it with the usual suspects; otherwise, try it again in 2009 to see where it’s at. Not de-stemmed, with vatting for 13 days and pumping over rather than cap-punching; sees one year in casks (70%) and one year old barrels.
-From 12 from the Perrin Family
Reporting from Day-twah,
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