Tag Archives: rhone

Le Colombier Cuvée ‘G’ 2009

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Wow, what an interesting wine. Tasted pretty late in the evening, if you know what I mean, I was bowled over by the uniqueness and flavors this gem brought. A Rhone blend, I wanted to describe the initial nose and taste as ‘sweet’, but that is not a good descriptor for red wines. Dark red in color, there was a certain funkiness of leather, earth and dark blue fruits that were intriguing. On the mid-palate, very smooth and balanced. Excellent tannins will hold this wine together until 2015 at least. For a crowd pleaser, this one hits it for most people. Not too heavy, somewhat complex and easy to drink because the balance is great. No dryness, yet the tannins are lurking. A wine that you should definitely search out. 5 stars and 91 points- go for it!

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Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle ’99

23 Sunday Oct 2011

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Iconic, pricey, and not so good. The label states that this wine will mature for 30 years, in Great Vintages. 1999 was not. It doesn’t help that the quality of this Domaine has declined since then either. Often seen on the auction circuit, the reputation of this wine is fearsome, but in 1999 something went amiss. I bought a case on discount, hoping for the critics to be wrong, they averaged 90 points, agreed.
Tonight, the nose is almost cooked, the wine highly alcoholic in taste even though it’s only 13.5%. The fruit is non-existent and the tertiary flavors have not evolved. The producers of Hermitage won a law suit against Penfolds in Australia preventing them from using the name Hermitage on their Grange bottlings. Perhaps they should have spent more time making it than defending its name.
I bought these bottles in 2002, and the decline started happening in 2006. I thought is was passing a “dumb” period- wrong. This stuff is over the hill and I’m assigning it to the “hurry up and drink the rest” bin, giving it 2 stars. Don’t bother looking for it, waste of cash and cellar space.

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Les Douze ’08

16 Sunday Oct 2011

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Here’s an interesting one for you….  In the south of France, vignerons compete to be included in the blend for that year’s offering of Les Douze (translated into the twelve).  These 12 wines are blended from Syrah, Carignan and Grenache, all Rhone varietals.  Every year the wine changes as the entries are evaluated and blended, producing an eclectic mix from year to year.  I had high hopes for this wine, and was not disappointed, even though I drank it way too young.  The dryness was a little overpowering, but promises to keep the wine healthy as it ages and develops.  A very interesting concept of putting the best wines forward and compiling a unique wine every year.  The co-op claims a full bodied effort that offers spice, can’t disagree there.  Forward thinkers like these guys are on the front running of giving the boys up north a lesson in quality versus price.  When the hype of Bordeaux dies down, they will be left holding the bag while these kinds of wine makers will have stolen the hearts and wallets of the sensible everyday wine drinker.  Well done you lot!  5 stars and an enviable 90 pointer from the novice over here.