As we've been writing about, Denise and I have been on a Southern France wine kick lately. Oregon Pinots are leading us to insolvency, and these Cotes du Rhone (and wines to the east and west) are good and reasonably priced (even with the weak US dollar). However, this one is very different from the others.

The nose was strawberry and blueberry, and wood and vanilla. Later, there was also sweet spice, moss, leather, and musty stuff: river rock and wet saw dust. That vanilla and wood returned in the taste. Yeah, it was slightly sweet -- a jammy cherry! And that's what was unusual about this. It was French, but it tasted more like a New World wine: most oaked up and jammy. Weird. Anyway, the finish was pepper, red cherry, currant, and that apple dryness at the very end.

The body was medium, and it was very fruity for a CdR. As I said, it was just slightly sweet. While I say it tasted a bit "New World", it'll be interesting if I can hold on to a bottle of this for a few years. Perhaps all the fruit and wood will mellow out. Time will tell (if I an resist drinking it early). Yeah, good stuff.

Cost:   

Rating:    7.5

(50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 5% Mourvèdre, 5% Carignan)

Here's another red from Corbieres (see the other reviews). I have to say that these wines are generally cheap, and quite good for the money. Not something you'd sit on for a couple decades, but great table wine.

The nose on this was really musty: mud and peat. But there was also a strong chemical smell (not good). And after all that, just a hint of nutmeg. The taste was a combo of blueberry (subtle) and bark -- not very fruity, almost bitter in its dryness. The finish is really dry -- it's not sweet or fruity at all. You get a sense of blueberry, but just barely. The taste has a subtle flash of fruity sweetness to it (just), but that dissipates into a raw bitterness in the finish (did someone add bitters to this wine?).

The body is pretty light. It wasn't spectacular, yet it was only about $8. Not to shabby.

Cost:   

Rating:    6.0

(Carignan: 35%, Grenache 35%, Syrah 15%, Mourvedre: 15%)

This wine was prominently displayed at my local Zupan's. The card said something to the effect: a "Chateauneuf du Pape at half the cost". No, not literally a Cheateauneuf du Pape, but the quality and flavors, and cheap (about $16, but I found some at Fred Meyers for about $14.50). Who could pass on such a thing? Not me.

So tonight we went over to Chapman Elementary for the annual "return of the swifts". Here's this children's elementary school with an archaic smoke stack, just towering in the sky. So it's just standing there, and these little birds -- "swifts" -- discovered it makes a good place to sleep. Swifts, apparently, are these little birds -- sort of like a swallow. Anyway, they come by the thousands -- at least. They essentially swarm this tall chimney at dusk. And finally, as the darkness sets in, they circle the thing like a tornado (seriously awesome), diving into the chimney for a nightly snooze. It can get a bit more exciting when the hawk drops by for a nightly "swift" snack. Crazy, but the hawk actually eats the poor things. The tornado disperses quickly when the hawk is on the prowl.



So the whole neighborhood comes over to watch this event. Everyone brings a picnic and watches the show. We brought a simple salad with a Dijon vinegarette, homemade lasagna, and this bottle of wine (it's Portland -- everyone drinks wine or beer in the parks).

The first thing I noticed was the smell of smoke and tobacco. It was very pungent. Later, the nose had mushroom, chalk, pepper, oak (French style, not American), saw dust, and black cherry. And there was black cherry in the taste, along with a distinct dryness and a  slight bitterness. The fruit flashes, but is immediately not sweet in any way. The finish is artichoke, currant, blueberry cherry, and rhubarb. This wine has a really nice body (medium) -- more body than a typical CdR. This wine is really easy to drink.

This is a really good value; buy some if you can find it.

Cost:   

Rating:    8.0

The nose on this was earthy: dirt, moss, and bark -- along with pepper, cedar, green bean, menthol, and tobacco. Yeah, lots going on there. The taste was raisin and red cherry, though mainly blueberry. Then the finish: that pepper hits and retreats quickly, leaving earth and veggie elements -- chalk and brussell sprout.

This is yet another French wine; we've been drinking a lot for the south lately. The body was medium, which was nice. This one was certainly not bad in any way. However, it wasn't as good as a number of the others I've had very recently from the same area (Southern France).

Cost:   

Rating:   6.5

(Grenache 40%, Syrah 40%, Carignan 15%, Mourvedre 5%)