April 16th 2010: Rhone Valley Reds
One of my favorite things about my job is putting together these Friday tastings. When we’re featuring an area that has so much good stuff to choose from I get really excited and inspired. And so it is, lately, with the Rhone Valley. There are a number of reasons for this including a string of strong vintages, great price to quality ratio and just plain loving the wines. The little Cotes Du Rhones are, in my mind, among the very best values in the world of fine wine today. As for the cream of the crop the Chateauneuf-Du-Papes are, without a doubt, the best values of all of the GREAT red wines of the world including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo/Barbaresco and Napa Valley Cabernet. 5 of the 6 wines included in this tasting are from the phenomenal 2007 vintage.
THE LINEUP
2008 Chapoton, Cotes Du Rhone $11
2007 Rabasse Charavin, Cotes Du Rhone $13
2007 Rouge Bleu, Mistral $19 Stunning Value!
2007 Ferme Saint Martin, Beaumes Des Venise “Terre Jaune” $22 Very pure and Bio Dynamicly made
2007 Marcel Richaud, Cairanne $30 One of my favorite wineries in the Rhone…………Period.
PREMIUM POUR ($4)
2007 Domaine Banneret, Chateauneuf-Du-Pape $43 The best value of all from Chateauneuf-Du-Pape
You may be able to tell that I’m somewhat excited about this tasting. You should be too!
Sandy



