This wine is made of 75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 5% Carignan and 5% Cinsault grapes. These grapes are hand picked and hand-stemmed. This wine comes from Southern Rhone from a northern facing slope on the foothills of Mont Ventoux (of Tour de France fame, added plus for this wine).
The nose is beautiful with floral, dark cherry, a sweet raisin scent, a hint of subtle chocolate, a little spice box feel, and maybe a touch of licorice. Amazing evolution from second to second on the nose, I love it!
Then on the palate, what a beautiful and perfectly balanced set of flavors! The palate starts with a burst of cherry: sweet cherry, sour cherry, and a touch of chocolate with cherry. The tannins make their appearance on the midpalate, but are immediately followed by another rush of acid and fruit. This medium bodied wine is velvety and long on the finish. The 15% abv is covered perfectly with these flavors and never rears its ugly head.
This wine is more acid driven on the palate than a northern Rhone wine would be (northern Rhone is fully fruit-driven); because of that fact, this is a time when a full-blooded red french wine pairs perfectly with salmon. The fattiness of the fish is perfectly complemented by the acidity of the wine...perfect pairing (yes, one of the rare times you'll ever hear me say that).
The finish just kept on keepin' on. Minutes after the first tasting-sip I was still getting a finishing flavor of spice and herbal and a touch of floral too (Lavender I want to say) along with a sour cherry bite. This is one of a few wines which can change someone's whole point of view about what wine can be and honestly what wine should aspire to be.
As you can tell by this review, I love what Philippe Gimel is doing on his 12 hectares in the south of France. This wine will only improve with time over the next 5 to 8 years, and I'm already looking forward to the next time I have the opportunity to have this wine again.
Rating: 93
Retail: $30
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