Rhone, Rhone, and more Rhone

I want to take time, on this beautiful Friday, to talk about my favorite wine in my favorite region. Three summers ago I found myself in this beautiful region again, this time under circumstances that went beyond my power, with two of my cousins who are wine enthusiasts themselves. We were driving up to my Aunt and Uncle’s farm in the region of Macon. By chance my older cousin whose car we were in, wanted to bring back some good wines from the Rhone valley, and I happened to know a few of them. One of the stops we made, one of the many stops, was in Vacqueyras at the Sang des Cailloux vineyard.

This wine is my favorite because it is the one that I can understand the best. I can actually feel the emotions of the winemaker while he made the wine. Most people will just think I’m lying, they have never felt emotions from a wine. And yet, wines that are influenced by the wine maker’s personality are the best wine in the world. This only happens with small productions vineyard that are trying to recreate a local authentic taste. They will give their wine character, and that character will enhance you tasting experience. This is an earthy wine, with red fruits, impeccable balance, a pleasant finish, complex and robust, full of pain and happiness, just like life.

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.