WTN: J.Vidal-Fleury Cotes du Rhone '88..(short/boring)

Tried this last night as a throw-away wine w/ my HeirloomTomatoe Salad:
1. J.Vidal-Fleury AC: Cotes du Rhone (12.5%) Ampuis 1988: Med.color w/ some browning; really lovely NRhone/smokey/roasted/coffee slight smokey/oak very complex classic NRhone nose; tart rather tired/dried out/astringent/bitter some smokey/NRhone/roasted/coffee/espresso quite complex flavor; very long complex/NRhone/coffee/roasted/smokey/pungent some tannic/dried out/astringent/bitter finish; speaks loud & clear of an old NorthernRhone Syrah; a 25 yr old CdR in this good a shape is crazy/nutso; really lovely nose but drying out on the palate. $8.90 (A)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This wine was from back in the days that V-F was owned by ??. The wnry has been in operation since 1791 as I recall (nope...did not follow it from the very start). It was purchased by Guigal some yrs ago. My impression is that the wines are not of the stature they had back in the '80's.
I was expecting this wine to be totally shot. It was not. It clearly is a Syrah from the NorthernRhone...probably from StJoseph I would guess.
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2. Heirloom Tomatoes: Are a fraud. They're big (often) and ugly and are weird colors. But they are no better than those hot-house tomatoes that come in a cellophane-topped box at the grocery store (are..at least..used to). Totally devoid of flavor and usually rather watery. At least the ones I've been buying at WholeFoods. Raised in Calif or Arizona, sometimes in NewMexico. But they far inferior to the BigBoys & LittleGiirls that TomLopez raises. Now those have some flavor & juciness.
The Bubulis Burrata and fresh basil are all that saved this salad.
Tom

Heirloom Tomatoes: Are a fraud. They're big (often) and ugly and are weird colors. But they are no better than those hot-house tomatoes that come in a cellophane-topped box at the grocery store (are..at least..used to). Totally devoid of flavor and usually rather watery. At least the ones I've been buying at WholeFoods.

I think the operative words in this rant are Whole Foods and not Heirloom Tomatoes. You can't expect to get good tomatoes at a place like Whole Foods (or pretty much any grocery store with very few exceptions). For me, grocery store tomatoes of any kind require roasting to be edible.

And what a wine! Nice note.

Hi Tom -

Thank you for the interesting note. I had a chance to try an 88 Guigal CDR a few years back that was still quite interesting, and I'm glad to hear that the Vidal-Fleury is still doing well.

That said, Rahsaan hit the nail on the head with regard to heirloom tomatoes. See if you can find some at a farmers' market, and give those a try.