WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It is time, once again, to get excited about the world of wine with the Eloquent, Elegant, and Diligent Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! This time I just have to say that it’s my favorite time. It’s time to pour another wonderful selection from the French Rhone! And as I look back I’m thinking “Mon Dieu!” (Y’know. . .because I’m thinking in French at the moment.) We haven’t done a French Rhone tasting for a staggering 7 months! Well, we shall stagger no more.

The Rhone is one of my favorite regions in the world for wine. The region has two distinct regions for winemaking: The Northern Rhone, and the appropriate counterpart, the Southern Rhone. The Northern Rhone makes inky-dark Syrah-based red wines, and voluptuous Viognier-based white wines. The wines rival the best growths of any other French region for quality, although the styles are unmatched anywhere else in the world. They’re also pretty expensive, for the most part. So much so that assembling a tasting of all Northern Rhone wines, and making it affordable, is a nearly-impossible task. So that’s why we mix them in with the Southern Rhone!

The Southern Rhone, although it shares the name “Rhone” with the Northern Rhone, and also shares the same valley (Rhone Valley) which was carved out by the river of the same name (Rhone River. . .down which you could Rhone, Rhone, Rhone your boat), the styles of wine of the region differ dramatically. In the South we find amazing blends of a great number of grape varieties and warmer growing seasons producing the heartier varieties. The blends are dominated by Grenache, Syrah, Carignane and Mourvedre, but also could feature some 20-or-more varieties of grapes, none of which anyone really remembers. The specific blends are left to the mercy of the weather, the whim of the winemaker, and a couple hundred years of French Rhone wine laws.

Now speaking of the mercy of the weather, the 2002 vintage in the Southern Rhone was decimated my massive storms. Whole crops for some winemakers were destroyed, and the ones that remained were of mediocre to just-plain-not-so-good-and-possibly-crappy quality. This whole disaster created quite a lull in the wine scene for the Rhone-lovers, however in the recent months we’ve been seeing the influx of the 2003 vintages of some of our favorite appellations, mostly with rave reviews for an ultra-ripe vintage.

I thought I might leave you with a few points of interest regarding this tasting. I’ve brought in 2 white wines to compliment the super warm weather we’ve been having, and among them is a 2003 Saint-Joseph blanc. I’ve never had one of these, and they don’t appear to be very common. Also, I finally located a favorite of mine: J.L. Chave’s Mon Coeur Cotes du Rhone. The last one I had was the 2001 which was great, and this one is supposed to be better. Also, it’s the triumphant return of Michel Faraud’s Gigondas. I don’t believe there was a 2002 made, and the 2001 seemed a bit funky. So this 2003 is sure to be a blockbuster! (And if your blocks do get busted, I might have a bit of glue that might put them back together.) I’ve indicated which wines are Northern or Southern Rhone, just in case you’d care to know.

So Friday, May 19th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

The Rhone!!
Chateau Val Joanis 2003 Cotes du Luberon Blanc (South)
Domaine Courbis 2003 Saint-Joseph Blanc (North)
Domaine de Beaurenard 2003 Cotes du Rhone (South)
Mon Coeur 2003 Cotes du Rhone (South)
Domaine Entrefaux 2004 Crosez-Hermitage (North)

And Some of the Best!!
Michel Faraud 2003 Domaine de Cayron Gigondas (South)
Ancien Domaine des Pontifs 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape (South)

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Australian Shiraz!

M