2017 Domaine Elodie Balme Côtes du Rhône (Rhône): A bit funky, a lot peppery, and even more fruity, friendly, and crowd-pleasing. $NA B+ 2016 Domaine Combe Juliere (Rasteau): Sexy, grippy, and with the kind of density that requires advanced physics calculations. $30 B+ 2016 Domaine du Trapadis ‘Les Adrés’ (Rasteau): Red fruits and spices, tied…
Height Matters (Exceptional Gigondas)
Smack up against the Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range sits Gigondas, a former ancient Roman soldier retirement home area and Southern Rhône cru that, technically, contains more woodlands than vineyards. And that’s after a killer frost in the 1960s wiped out a good portion of olive tree plantings, ushering in a shift towards more vine…
Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For May 13, 2019
2015 Ravenswood Winery Angeli Carignan (Sonoma County): High-toned, perfumed, and about as large-and-in-charge as Carignan can possibly get. $42 B+ 2016 Turley Wine Cellars Hayne Vineyard Petite Sirah (Napa Valley): When the Valley puts on its best Mountain Man impersonation, & it’s a good one. $75 A- 2017 St. Amant Winery Alicante Bouschet (Lodi): Linear,…
“Big Character” (Diving Into Rasteau’s New-Old Identity)
Well… I’m in the unenviable position of having to date myself. Embarrassingly (not because of my age, about which I mostly don’t care, but because of my obvious lack of knowledge), I knew little about the Rasteau appellation prior to visiting it on a recent Rhône media jaunt, aside from the fact that it was…