Domaine des Martinelles, Crozes Hermitage, 2005
This wine was displayed at the local Fred Meyer with one of those tags describing the wine as something special. I can't remember the details, but somebody gave it a high rating or some thumbs-up. That's not, exactly, my experience.
The nose was interesting, and really herby -- mainly lavendar and some cayenne. Later, as it opened up, it had a musty smell, sort of like the bank of a river. Elizabeth smelled caramel too. The taste was harder to discern. Was that pomegranet? Maybe Raisin? It took us awhile -- and this sounds funny -- but then it struck us: it's green apple. There was some dark fruit mixed it, but the taste was just like green apple. And yeah, it was dry and tart. This tartness started out tasting almost like grapefruit, but over a little time, it was definitely green apple. The body was light -- just a bit too light for me. And as Elizabeth noted, this wine was just not big enough, or flavorful enough to discern the flavors much beyond that green apple.
The disappointing part was that this wine was much more expensive (like $25) and not as good -- in my opinion -- as many of those cheaper (like $12) Cotes du Rhone bottles we drank last month (see the other reviews).
Cost:
Rating:
6.0