Sunday News

Sundays are always tough for me: stock market closed, most of the business world is resting, football is on, the only people making money are the bookies and the few winners of gambling. Not exactly my cup of tea. That's why I opened a bottle of Rasteau last night. And for the unlucky few who do not know the Rhone Valley, Rasteau is a small village located between Chateauneuf-Du-Pape and Orange, slightly to the east, by Sablet and Cairanne, two other great Southern Rohne wines. This bottle is by Perrin also the owner of Beaucastel, probably the best Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine house. Mr. Perrin, who I had the pleasure to meet during one of his tastings at Bleu Provence in Naples, FL, is an extremely smart and nice man, who makes a variety of Rhone wines under the label "Perrin & Fils" including this Rasteau. This was a 2001, "L'Andeol" vineyard, 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, with 10% aged in French oak, 13.5% alc./vol. I picked it up at our local Central Market for about $18.
This wine was barely showing age, the outer ring was starting to turn purple, but only by getting very close could you notice and the red was vivid. The concentration was perfect for me, which made the wine full bodied but without showing any alcoholic taste and a perfect balance. A long lasting finish, and full of lovely perfumes, such as black olives, thyme, and berries. You should know that I tend to detect the subtle tastes and miss the obvious ones. But the soul of the wine made me think of a warm and dry afternoon by an old olive tree in the Provencial grarigue. Then again my judgment might be swayed by the fact that I spent most of my childhood there.