It Starts With A Grape

I was driving down Route 20 in Sheridan New York about a week ago, and around there, its wine country. I heard news a while back that there was a new winery in town, but until recently I haven’t had the time to stop in. Well it just so happened that I had about a half hour to kill, and what better way to spend it than stopping in for a taste?

Upon entering the tasting and sales room, which though of modern design was absolutely beautiful, I was greeted by a friendly voice from behind the tasting bar, who turned out to be Beth, the owners daughter. I have to say even though the decor displays a fairly high level of sophistication, the mood is definitely relaxed, my kind of place. (more…)

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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.