Cotes Du Rhone, Saint Esprit, 2007, France, $11.99
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Cotes Du Rhone (Coat-do-rone) is traditionally a blend made of any of the fallowing grapes: Syrah, Grenache, Mourverde, and Carignan. Its called Cotes Du Rhone because of where its grown in France, as is the case with the majority of French wines. This particular Cotes Du Rhone, Saint Esprit, is made up of 75% Syrah, and 25% Greanche. Its a beautiful deep shade of garnet, and opens with a nose of black cherry and tart plumb. Fallowed by light smokey oak and just a hint of cinnamon. With a medium body, its tannins are silky smooth, but maintain enough oomph to give it a fair amount of backbone. Flavors of juicy raspberry and an array of black fruit glide over your taste-buds, moving you gracefully into a finish of soft, smooth oak finish. This is one very well balanced red, that would lend itself well to a number of foods, or could be drunk on its own. Broiled, juicy steak in a garlic sauce with a side of herb-ed red mashed potatoes comes to mind, but it would go just as well with a mild cheese. One word of caution with this wine, I would recommend either decanting it or just giving it a while to open up in your glass, the tannins and acidity were a little much the first time around, but they calm down fairly quickly when aerated.
Tags: Cotes Du Rhone, France, Grenache, red, Syrah, under $20
July 16th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Glad to see you reviewing this one Heather. It’s always been a really great value wine for me, as CdR’s are getting increasingly more expensive to find.
July 16th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Its true, they are becoming increasingly few and far between for a decent price (and good quality). I’ll do my best to keep ‘em coming! And as always, thanks for the feedback!