WTN: T-Vine, Chapoutier, Besson and a good little Sablet

[Jenise]

2009 T-Vine Cellars Zinfandel Frediani Vineyard Napa Valley
Almost black in color, opaque, with huge mouthfeel and body. Nose does show the floral side of zin, but the palate impression's so massive that blind, one might guess petite sirah or syrah first because of it's dominated by dark mushroom soy (a black, viscuous version of soy sauce). The tang of American oak is obvious, but in between start and finish there's a very old school, claret-style zin here and it's in a very good place for current drinking. Can use decanting for separation of considerable sediment, though.

2014 Domaine de Piaugier Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet Red Rhone Blend
PnP. Big fruit, needs airtime to integrate. Great QPR at $13 from a very good but little known commune just down the street from Gigondas and Vacqueyras.

2013 Domaine Besson Chablis
Confirms assessment from previous bottle. Drinkable but heading downhill. Drink up!

2004 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie Les Bécasses Syrah
PnP. I got a great deal on four bottles of this way back when because Parker panned it, and this is the second one we've opened. The first was over five years ago, so I hadn't been following it closely and didn't know what to expect. Soft and subdued at first and I honestly didn't think it would get better (recent CT notes are scant and conflicting), but in fact it improved considerably over two hours and I now look forward to my remaining bottles. Next time: decant for two hours.

Zinfandel has not been on my horizon for a number of years. An Earthquake Zin from 2009 was the last one..15.5% alc and a fruit bomb for sure!

[Jenise]

Earthquake is a mass-production wine for those whose preference is high RS and OTT fruit. Wine as a cocktail, as it were. The T-Vine we drank was 180 degrees different. I'm fairly sure you'd like it.

Zinfandel has not been on my horizon for a number of years. An Earthquake Zin from 2009 was the last one..15.5% alc and a fruit bomb for sure!

Ugh. Don't damn ALL Zinfandel based on the Michael David Vodka-Infused Fruit Oakshakes, Bob!

2014 Domaine de Piaugier Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet Red Rhone Blend
PnP. Big fruit, needs airtime to integrate. Great QPR at $13 from a very good but little known commune just down the street from Gigondas and Vacqueyras.

There are lots of good value CDRVs from lesser known villages like Sablet, Séguret, Valréas, Laudun, to name only four. Three other good villages, Vinsobres, Rasteau and Beaumes de Venise, have recently achieved independence in the form of their own AOPs. The outstanding village still to obtain its own AOP is Cairanne with great producers like Marcel Richaud and Oratoire Saint-Martin (the Alary brothers, Frédéric & François).

Local supermarkets here have an excellent CDRV Laudun from Ch.Courac and a decent Sablet from a co-operative, both for c.€6.

[Jenise]

Tim, so true. I have a tendency to fall for Sablets when I see them because we stayed in that little (fortified) village for a few weeks some years ago, and I truly have a soft spot for it.