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rhône

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Brunel “Les Cailloux” 1995 Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Rhône) – Open 24 hours, partially consumed, and the air is to the wine’s benefit, which shows a sweet, keening quality to the “fruit” (the usual distilled meat juice that passes for fruit in CdP), an open and generous texture. If CdP can ever be termed “pretty,” this might be a candidate. But it’s still very authentic. (1/08)

Winter Solstice

[bottle]Clos du Paradis “Domaine Viret” 1999 Vin de Pays Porte de Méditerranée “Solstice” (Rhône) – Aromatically, this is dominated by its deep, sweaty, slightly animalistic mourvèdre…a grape that is, here, pretty close to mature and drinking beautifully, albeit in a sort of anti-fruit fashion. The problem, however, is that the cabernet sauvignon and merlot still have a firm grip on the wine’s structure, which shows very little signs of resolving anytime soon. Nor are those grapes’ aromatics much developed. The result is a wine with more than a little unwelcome bipolarity. I don’t know what the solution is, other than to not do things like blending mourvèdre and grenache with cabernet and merlot. (12/07)

Voge 1998 Cornas “Cuvée Les Vieilles Fontaines” (Rhône) – Classic. Leather, smoked leather, a little bit of char. Yet in some ways, not classic, in that it’s both overly smooth and somewhat restrained. Should Cornas ever be truly restrained? Well, whatever, it’s still a tasty wine. (10/07)

Vignerons de Caractère “Domaine de la Brune” 2005 Beaumes de Venise “Vin Emotion” (Rhône) – The signature of reds from this appellation seems to be a hard, almost crystalline minerality – quartz-like, perhaps – that dominates both any varietally-derived aromas and general Southern Rhônishness. That’s true here, where the rocky foundation is barely brushed by smoked meat and blackberry residue. I find this wine fascinating. (11/07)

Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Séguret (Rhône) – Fearless and sun-drenched, as a Séguret should be, showing brawny, slightly roasted dark berries and vine smoke with a rich black leather interior. There’s a polished fullness to it that, for me, connects it to Féraud’s other wines, but while it’s certainly on the lush side, it is by no means overdone or overly modern. Nicely done, and a pretty decent value as well. (11/07)

Alary 2005 Côtes du Rhône “La Gerbaude” (Rhône) – Earth, herb, smoke and meat with just a hint of funk, coalescing into a burnt Creole funnel of brooding, unyielding darkness. It’s not a big wine in its paradigm, but it’s not exactly friendly and floppy either. Age? Almost certainly, though with the right animal flesh it’s pretty good now. (11/07)

Too Chaillot, hush hush

Allemand 1997 Cornas Chaillot (Rhône) – From magnum. A grand cru Burgundy of Cornas. Polished, but in no way slick. Dark meat and blood aromas, roasted walnuts and garlic-sautéed black trumpets, mouth-coating texture and a beautiful, can’t-wait-for-the-next-sip finish. Absolutely fabulous. (10/07)

Princess

Jasmin 1996 Côte-Rôtie (Rhône) – Subtle and pretty, as is Jasmin’s wont, with very smooth, supple, softened meat-stone “fruit” and delicate dustings of thyme, lavender and dried mushroom. It’s long, but a large part of that length is one solid, pure note. I think more time will bring forth additional complexities, but it’s a most affable dinner companion right now. (10/07)

Baton rouge

[barrels]Texier 2004 Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge (Rhône) – More acidic than one normally expects from a basic Côtes-du-Rhône, though Texier is hardly acid-averse, and while it defies expectations it works to the wine’s benefit when food is in the equation. Otherwise, the aroma runs through the usual range of underbrush, earth, smoked pork and bubblegum, and overall it’s fairly restrained. Not elegant, exactly, but soft. It finishes with fine sustain, and I wonder if it might not benefit from a few years’ age. (10/07)

Who would have thought? It Viguiers.

Cave de Rasteau 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc “Les Viguiers” (Rhône) – A bit steamy, but otherwise fine (and excess heat is certainly no rare flaw in Rhône whites), showing nut oil and old stone fruit…emphasis on the stone more than the fruit…with minor acidity and a generally structureless finish. This note sounds more negative than the wine deserves. Again: it was fine, as such things go. But haters of white Rhônes (and they’re definitely out there) will find nothing here to change their minds. (9/07)