2005 Perrin & Fils Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau L’Andeol, 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 14% alc., $18.99: This ruby dark garnet colored Rasteau is very tight on the nose right now, offering only a glimpse of the flavors to follow; hard, tannic, earthy black plums and currants are accented with some briar and bramble in the background, and with an hour of aeration, some leather and mahogany emerge in both flavor and aroma. The first half glass of this was unaccompanied and hard to cozy up to, but when paired with a lamb shawarma and a plate of tabouli, it transformed into a rich, almost ripe red wine, becoming much more user friendly, and I suppose that there’s a lesson there. So, try it now with food, or lay it down for five years and have it with food then as well! A solid successor to the fine 2004 model. Sourced from south-facing slopes protected from the mistral winds, which produces early ripening grapes; they then undergo the same flash heating process prior to fermentation as at Château de Beaucastel. Matured 90% in stainless steel tanks and 10% in oak casks, with 6 months of further bottle aging.
2005 Perrin & Fils Vacqueyras Les Christins, 80% Grenache, 20 % Syrah, 14.5% alc., $22: Deep, dark garnet color, with a stingy nose that only hints at the big, earthy black fruit flavors complimented with a surprising note of bacon, shades of briar-bramble and a bit of pepper; well structured, turning somewhat astringent on the finish, this is obviously in need of some cellar time, and should be showing really well in about five to eight years, but that’s not to say that you can’t give it an hour or two in a decanter now and enjoy it with beef, lamb or a hearty stew. The 20 acre Les Christins vineyard is located in the commune of Sarrians, leased by the Perrin family and operated by the Beaucastel team; vines average around 50 years of age. After crushing, the grapes are slowly fermented for a month in 50-hectoliter vats, and then matured half in tank and half in cask.
2005 Perrin & Fils Côtes du Rhône Villages Vinsobres Les Hauts de Julien, 50% Syrah, 50% Grenache, $45, 14% alc.: Deep, dark garnet color, offering flavors and aromas of earthy black plum, black currant, briar-bramble, a little cola and a stony minerality. Full bodied, balanced and well structured, this is a solid wine that already drinks well and shows excellent prospects for several years of further development; I wouldn’t flinch at a mid or even high $20s price tag, but $45?! True, the wine has a certain rough elegance that’s bound to smooth out with age, but I wouldn’t cough up the SRP for this, no matter what the age of the vines. It’s what’s in the bottle that counts, and this doesn’t offer that kind of quality, from what we tasted. Maybe time will prove me wrong, so let’s give it the benefit of the doubt and just say that the jury is still out on this one. Les Hauts de Julien is owned and farmed by the Perrin family; this wine is sourced from a single plot of 90-year old vines. The Syrah and Grenache are co-fermented, with 15% seeing French oak aging, then bottled unfiltered.
-from More Red Wings & Red Rhônes 2007
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