Southern Rhones tend to be more of my daily drinkers. Typically very fine QPRs.
As busy as I’ve been at work, I have not been keeping up with vintage reports, so lost track on whether 2010 was a top-tier vintage. So I ordered a few 2010s from a local retailer, following some very decent, if not high, critic scores, and thus far have not been impressed. A small sampling for sure, but hopefully the collective group here can post some thoughts on solid daily drinkers. I continue to believe that Southern Rhone is one of the top regions for great QPRs.
Unfortunately, these two recent examples missed the mark IMHO:
2010 Cercius Cotes du Rhone Villages - Another Cambie project sporting a 93 RP rating. Blend of 85% grenache and 15% syrah. Some solid typicity, with white pepper, spice, lavender and roasted black raspberry. Boozey, lots of heat. Not a particularly pleasant daily drinker with basic food. Too heady. Take a pass.
2010 Ch. Pesquie Terrasses, Côtes du Ventoux - RP 94 rating. The 2010 is quite bad. I pre-ordered a case, found a few early releases, tried two and immediately cancelled my case order. Check CT on the varied reviews. Too bad as I have always enjoyed this little wine.
So, any recommendations for this Southern Rhone fan?
Robert,
Thanks for the comment you left on the $20 thread about the Pesquie. Arrival here is MN is not to be until early 2012. Appears the distributors are still waiting for enough snow to fall so the dog sleds can get it up here.
Hmmm. I really liked the '09 Cercius and hadn’t tried the '10 yet.
The only '10’s I’ve had are the Segries. Mordoree, and Andezon. Those were fairly structured and even a tad bit tart when I last tried them. All are food friendly though and from the descriptions sound like the opposite of the '10 Cercius.
Have had a few of the 2010 Remejeanne CdR Chevrefeuille which is really nice (floral tones) and nicely priced at about $12. Still lots of 2009s out there.
I haven’t tasted any 10 Southern Rhones from bottles but had a number of barrel samples at various places this summer. Where 09 is a strong vintage in a more typical way, 10, while not being as heavy with fruit as 07, is more exotic. I think there will be plenty to like. But you have to start by liking the style of the winemaker. If you object to high alcohol, slushy tannins and overripe fruit (OK, I’m not unbiased), then you really shouldn’t be drinking Cambie wines. Wait for Charvin and Ferrand or Cairannes from the likes of Alary, Rabasse-Charavin, Alary and the like.
the '10 St Cosme is very good, but it’s actually 100%… took me a while to realize this and I was curious why it had so much pepper and structured tannins until I looked it up on the web.
Been very disappointed by the '10 Cercius, Pesquie, and Vindemmio Imagine. Normally, I love CdRs and Cotes du Ventoux, but the '10s I’ve had have been too alcoholic, too acidic, and/or disjointed in some other way. I’m really surprised by how much I dislike them.
Yea, it’s been a huge shift for me as CDRs tend to be my regular daily drinkers - typically great stuff at reasonable pricing. My '09 purchases went down and my '10s are close to non-existent. Good thing Chinon, Bojo and No. Rhones have some strong QPRs in this 09 vintage.