Character and Precision from Southern France
We decanted all but the Cotes du Rhone two hours before the tasting, to have them be at optimal drinking. With the spice of a Rhone and the breadth and depth of a Napa Cabernet, the 2014 Ch. Virgile Costieres de Nimes Cuvee l'Eneide proved the most satisfying to the majority of tasters, especially at its $20 price.
March 29, 2017
The pure spicy elegance and maturity of the 2012 La Font De. l'Olivier Carignan Vieilles Vignes appealed to a different group. An excellent companion for Mediterranean dishes.
The 2013 Domaine de la Biscarelle Chateauneuf du Pape Les Anglaises was on another level both of price and quality. It drank well last week, but had the stuffing to benefit from another 5 – 7 years of cellaring..
The organic 2014 Domaine Coston Terrasses de Larzac, another blend of Rhone grapes had not so much weight as the other wines, but did show very nice flavors. Likewise the 2014 Bastide Blanche Bandol showed pure earthy Mourvedre in a spicy cleanly pure guise.
Personal taste determined how people responded to the 2015 Domaine Servans Cotes du Rhone. Some found it satisfyingly full – others found its strong earthy fruit too much for their palates. It is also organic.
Red
2015 Domaine Servans Cotes du Rhone - Organic; Aroma: juicy forward, juicy rather forward, fresh, ; Mouth: clean fresh juicy, bright acidity, lively very pleasant, long in the mouth, ; Very Good 13.99; Mixed Case, 12.59; Case, 11.89
2014 Domaine Coston Terrasses de Larzac - Organic; Aroma: light on the Attack, spicy black cherry, sweet garrigue notes, fresh clean rather firm; Mouth: juicy herbal lifted notes, rounded rather complete nice spicy raspberry, tangy edge long; Very Good Plus 16.99; Mixed Case, 15.29; Case, 14.44
2012 La Font De. l'Olivier Carignan Vieilles Vignes; Aroma: heady rather dense, full, juicy dense, sandalwood, heady evocative, soft mellowed, evocative fragrant, ; Mouth: smooth clean juicy, rounded, clean back, fine acidity, balanced, fine mouthfeel, light on the finish, very long; Very Good Plus 21.99; Mixed Case, 19.79; Case, 18.69
2014 Ch. Virgile Costieres de Nimes Cuvee l'Eneide; Aroma: very heady very rich dense, light oak, rather extracted, heady very clean, pretty, floral rosy, rather oaky; Mouth: smooth very rich oaky, rather dense fleshy extracted, rather firm, rather dense, thick long ; Very Good Plus 19.99; Mixed Case, 17.99; Case, 16.99
2014 Bastide Blanche (Bronzo) Bandol ; Color: very dark black red; Aroma: heady rather funky, earthy, rather dense, spicy, ; Mouth: clean lightish, rather herbal, very dense fine acidity, rather firm, finely delineated, long; Very Good Plus 29.99; Mixed Case, 26.99; Case, 25.49
2013 Domaine de la Biscarelle Chateauneuf du Pape Les Anglaises; Aroma: heady very rich, pure, very clean, rasher firm, very dense, very ripe, very dense, ; Mouth: very dense rather rich, very full, smooth, a clean bright acid back, rich very dark, smooth concentrated fine elegant tannins, pure, very pretty, very fine, of a piece; Excellent 57; Mixed Case, 51.3; Case, 48.45
3-29 Southern France Case: Special, two each of the above wines - $273
Instore only 3-29 Southern France Pack: One each of the above - $144
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- Len Rothenberg
(c) Federal Wine and Spirits Inc. 2017
