Yves Cheron 2015 “Les Dentelles” Cotes du Rhone
Domaine Yves Cheron Domaine Yves Cheron is located in Gigondas, where most of their Grenache vineyards are located. While this may not be a region you are familiar with, Gigondas is …
cotes
Brotte 2015 “Esprit Barville” Cotes du Rhone Blanc
Maison BrotteIf you happen to be in the village of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, you’ll probably end up at the Musée du Vin. It’s attached to Maison Brotte, one of the oldest wineries in …
Hecht & Bannier 2016 Rosé, Côtes de Provence
Hecht & Bannier are a négociant winery based in the southern French town of Aix-en-Provence. Since 2002, they’ve released several excellent red wines. However, it’s their rosé program that is getting noticed, …
Reserve Mont Redon 2016 Cotes du Rhone Rosé
Mont-Redon is one of those Chateauneuf du Pape wineries that totally messes with my life. They bottle wines like Zeus throws lightning bolts. Bolts. A place that throws out muscle-bound luxury …
Guigal Cotes du Rhone
Vertical VintagesAt least once a quarter, I pop open this wine to introduce our students to the Cotes du Rhone region of France. Vintage after vintage, this has been a go-to bottle. …
Domaine Forca Real 2013 Cotes du Roussillon Villages
Split between two countries –France and Spain– Catalan winemakers share a skill in making powerful wines from scraggly old vines grown on craggy hills of shale. This unoaked bottling is mostly Grenache, with some Mourvedre …
Shatter 2012 Grenache, Côtes Catalanes
Côtes Catalanes is an obscure wine region tucked into the mountains that separate France from Spain. Eight years ago, when I was on the editorial review team for the second edition …
Domaine Forca Real 2011 “Mas de la Garrigue” Côtes du Roussillon-Villages
For a hot moment in the late 90’s, France’s Mediterranean vineyards were trendy, in particular the Languedoc-Roussillon. The good folks at Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate couldn’t rate the wines high …
Château de Belcier 2011 Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
I discovered the wine company Gironde et Gascogne at a trade tasting a few years back. This is a boutique operation with two chateaux on their roster, both in Bordeaux: Château Ramage La …
Chateau Moulin de Clotte 2010 Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
Hmm. Seems like the chateau owner may be in a financial pickle. First, her bottlings from Chateau Ambe Tour Pourret showed up at stark discounts. That was some great Bordeaux for …
Chateau Leon 2010 “Cuvee Prestige” Cadillac Cotes de Bordeaux
Back in January 2013, I favorably reviewed the Chateau Carignan 2005 “Prima” Cotes de Bordeaux. At the time, I had also tasted their regular un-Prima 2009 bottling. Like most wines I try, …
Hecht & Bannier 2010 Cotes du Roussillon Villages
This wine sports an inky hue with dark fruit and orchid perfume flowing easily out of the glass. The ripeness of the fruit is layered and soft as velvet. Allspice and …
Chateau Carignan 2005 “Prima” Cotes de Bordeaux
When I took a group of my students to Bordeaux, we stayed just a few miles from this Chateau. I did not expect much of this wine when I first tasted …
Chateau Mont Redon 2007 Cotes du Rhone
Good fresh fruit intermixed with dried fruit flavor, pain grille, and a backbone of tannin. A very good wine for its class and style.
Santa Duc 2007 Cotes du Rhone Vieilles Vignes
A very modern wine that pushes the fruit to its darkest and densest limit. Big and dumb, and that’s not a bad thing.
Domaine de la Janasse 2006 Cotes du Rhone Blanc
The nose is rich with mushrooms and spice, though there’s a certain dried apricot perfume there from the viognier, too. You can definitely smell the oak here, lavished on this wine, …