I need a bit of structure, which means that I’m not a big fan of grenache when it comes to cotes du rhone… so I tend to seek out ones that are syrah-driven.
In any event, the weather here in the economic implosion otherwise known as southeast Michigan was pretty damn nice (over 70F/20C… woohoo!), so perhaps that colours my tasting note, but the 2007 Domaine de la Bastide Cotes du Rhone was the perfect quaffer to accompany what seems Spring’s first harbinger of Summer. Nothing terribly complex, but the wine was deep, fresh, and juicy, with lots of tangy raspberry, cherry, and spice flavors. Just an incredibly “drinkable” wine, which hit-the-spot… so much so that my waif-like wife and I polished off the whole bottle in no more than and hour or two (this never happens). Seems like this might be a mainstay in the coming summer months. About $11.
I’m in Michigan, so I don’t know if it’ll help, but it was at a place called Nino Salvaggio’s. Imported by Peerless Imports (Jackson, MI). I did a quick search on Wine Searcher, but only found one or two references… the rest seemed to refer to Domaine de la Bastide Sainte-Dominique, which seems to be a different winery: http://www.domainedelabastide.com" onclick=“window.open(this.href);return false; vs http://www.bastide-st-dominique.com” onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
They also make a $10 Roussanne which I really enjoyed last year. Wine Exchange has an $11 Viogner, but not the CdR. Seems like a really good QPR producer. Thanks. Love the P-51 avatar too.
Thanks Eldon… someone else inquired about the Avatar (is it mine… I wish!), so more here if you’re interested: http://wineberserkers.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3122" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;