09 Ferraton ‘La Source’ rouge [St. Joseph] 13% abv. This is their base red, and I doubt it’s estate grapes. It’s destemmed syrah, that gets vat and oak elevage for a year prior to bottling. It’s an ok midweek Northern Rhone, but it left me a little underwhelmed. For a good producer, in a good vintage, I was expecting a little bit more. It’s smooth, zesty, and still has a hint of tannin left but I didn’t pick up any complexity over a couple of nights. It drank best at about 2-3 hours of aeration, and I kept getting hints of interesting marzipan, but they never really blossomed. I guess Ferraton tilts toward modern in style as the SO thought it was a Californian wine. (To me, its not fruity enough to be New World syrah). I hope the 2015 ends up being better than this. I’d give this vintage a B or so. I think they should be drunk up.
It’s an “ok” value for $20, but I can’t but help compare it to some of Rostaing’s syrah driven Languedocs for the same money, which I find far more impressive.