2008 Rosteau Cotes du Rhone Villages

Hello all!! I really enjoyed this wine tonight!! It has been sitting around for awhile, so I'm not sure were I got it or what I paid for it, but I think it came from Bob's and I probably paid $15 to $20 for it. We had this wine with roast chicken (with garlic) and broccoli salad with pine nuts, onion, and sundried tomatoes. I wanted a nice bright, but fairly light red wine. I get a little tired of pairing roast chicken with chardonnay. This was actually a very nice pairing. The wine was light, but fresh and lively. It was very nice with the strong flavors of the garlic and broccoli. The color was a translucent ruby. The nose was of blueberry, strawberry and a little earthiness or forest aroma. The flavor was like the nose but it had a some added spiciness and a bit of rootbeer. It had soft tannins and a lingering finish. Overall, it was similar to a burgundian pinot noir but a little bit heavier. It was light bodied, elegant and complex. It must have been good because it inspired a philosophical conversation on the acceptance of ones mortality with maturity. I need to find more of this. And, while many '08's need to be aged a little more, this wine is ready to drink.

2008 Domaine de Couron Cotes du Rhone Villages

Hello everyone! This wine is the younger brother to the previous wine, from the same producer, so bear with me as I can't help but compare the two wines. I tasted this at the Second Harvest wine tasting sponsored by Campbell Station Wines and Spirits and then we took home a bottle. It is a bllend of syrah and grenache. I believe it also sells for $15 to $18 a bottle. This wine is similar to the 100% syrah, but a little rougher, with tannins that are not as well integrated. It's also a 2008, whereas the previous wine was a 2006 vintage. I liked this wine, but I do believe it would become more rounded with a few years in the bottle. We had this wine with pizza at home. Not as bad a pairing as you might think, because I make this pesto pizza with spinach, mushroom and goat cheese that is always too light for a classic Italian pizza wine. Al always makes a second more traditional pizza with red sauce and mozzarella. So picking out a wine for pizza night is a bit of a problem. This wine was pretty good with both, not a great pairing, but ok with both pizzas.

The color was very inky and dark with a rim of purple at the edge of the glass. The nose was of cherry and vanilla with a bit of licorice. Much like the previous wine, this one nicely coats the palate. It's not a heavy wine, but has a medium body, just a little lighter than the 100% syrah. The flavor profile included lots of currents, some cherry, a little vanilla, black tea, and a hint of licorice. This is a very nice wine, and I may pick up another bottle while I'm there purchasing several bottles of the 100% syrah.

Cotes Du Rhone Villages Montreuil Red Wine of France

Sorry, I could not find a year on this bottle. I actually picked this up at a grocery store here, in Quebec, to have one evening in our room. It was $15, and I believe I've seen this in the states. It's a blend of syrah and grenache. It was a nice little wine, and true to its type. It was fairly light in appearance and in taste, with a ruby to garnet color. The nose was raspberry, blackberry, and a little vanilla. There was an added touch of spiciness (orange rind?) on the palate. It had a soft and silky feel in the mouth. The finish was soft and rounded, pleasant but not terribly long. We had this wine with sandwiches in the condo kitchenette. It was nice with the sandwiches, which were loaded up with veggies. This would pair nicely with chicken, turkey, salmon, etc. You could have it when you would normally serve a burgundian pinot. As a person, this wine would be the dinner guest who gets along well with others, a quiet, pleasant guy.