Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Séguret (Rhône) – Fading, with its structure now taking control of the dark, earthen, somewhat tarred fruit. Drink up. (11/11)
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costières and soleil
Cylons
Costières & Soleil “Sélectionné par Laurence Féraud” 2009 Vin de Table “Plan Pégau” (Rhône) – Even more structured and manly than usual, which makes me wonder if the non-Rhône-traditional grape component of this wine has been upped. Dusty, a bit tarry, and hazy with blackened fruit. The ideal match might be mastodon. (7/11)
Séguential
Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Séguret (Rhône) –I gave up on this wine about a year ago, as it had provided tasty post-release quaffing but seemed to be headed towards a rather abrupt expiration. I may have been too hasty, because this is back. I don’t know if much has changed, exactly, but the descending veils have been re-lifted, and the dark, earthy fruit is once more on full display. Perhaps the tannin has faded just a bit? Aside from that, it’s the same wine it was in its highly approachable youth. I’d recommend drinking, but it’s clear I don’t have as firm a handle on this wine as I once thought, so for all I know it’ll be an ager. I’m drinking mine anyway, because that way it won’t continue to prove me wrong. (11/10)
Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Séguret (Rhône) – See the previous note, to which this would be pretty much identical. (11/10)
Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Séguret (Rhône) – This third bottle, and (I think) my last, is a little more faded and on a trajectory similar to all the previous bottles. So were the last two the anomalies, or is this? Well, it’s now moot unless my friends are stashing some. (11/10)
BSG
Costières & Soleil “Sélectionné par Laurence Féraud” 2005 “Plan Pégau” Vin de Table (Rhône) – After a number of very poor showings, my most recent two bottles have evidenced a bit of a comeback. Perhaps I judged prematurely. In any case, there continues to be no obvious reason to hold onto these wines longer than the time it takes to drink them, for as the structure fades, the dark and sloshy fruit remains firmly in place, yet with someone’s hand pulling back on the fader. A fair quaff. (12/09)
The Costières of doing business
Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Séguret (Rhône) – Better than these bottles sometimes are, with earthy/smoky black fruit and a fair collection of dried herbs, but these jeans are fading and a little stretched. I’d be looking for the most recent vintage, if you’re of a mind to drink this. (12/09)
Ségway
Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2007 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Séguret (Rhône) – As I’ve worked my way though my rapidly-decaying stash of the 2005 version of this wine, this bottle has only served to confirm my conviction that this is a label for immediate consumption. I don’t personally think that Séguret should decline as quickly as this one does, but the evidence is clear: drink it when you buy it, and not later. Smooth, succulent Southern Rhônishness, full of garrigue and musky fruit scented with earth and that grenache-y touch of gum. Nice. Did I mention to hurry up and drink it? (9/09)
Féraud swine
Costières & Soleil “Sélectionnée par Laurence Féraud” 2005 “Plan Pégau” (Rhône) – A hyped wine that has never really done a whole lot for me aside from my first taste. It’s flavorsome and full, but it’s also boring and more than a little disjointed, with soil and herb here, tobacco and tar there, and no real middle in which to meet. (10/09)
Oil of Soleil
Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Séguret (Rhône) – Turning a little sludgy and strewed, but showing better than other bottles have, of late. Dark, soy-based earth-fruit and leather, the blackened memory of blueberry dust, some dried-herb aromatics. Heavy. (7/09)
Not a man, not a Plan
Costières & Soleil “Sélectionné par Laurence Féraud” 2005 “Plan Pégau” Vin de Table (Rhône) – Muted at opening, then delivering a slow, slow, so slow process of cabernet-ization; by the end of the bottle, it would be the sheerest luck to identify the wine’s Rhônish origins. That’s not a bad thing – it’s a vin de table for a reason, after all – but what isn’t quite so good is the way the wine never rises above tediousness, albeit a tedium delivered via sledgehammer. Every single bottle of this wine has been worse than the last one. (3/09)
Plan B
Costières & Soleil “Sélectionné par Laurence Féraud” 2005 “Plan Pégau” (Rhône) – Decrepit when first opened. It never really gets much better. Could be a bad bottle, but there’s just something about its malaise that makes me doubt it. Spirty-porty in a stale blueberry sort of way, with gravelly tannin and pointless density. Finishes with indifference. I’m no Pégau-hater, but this is a very poor performance for this wine. (1/09)
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