Domaine Fond Croze
Côtes du Rhône
Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre
Cuvée Confidence
St. Roman de Malegarde, France
2006
14%
$15.99 -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Deep ruby
Nose: Meaty ripe blackberry pepper pie
Body: Medium to full
Front: Sparkly cherry
Middle: Espresso crayon milk
Back: Blueberry, tannins like fine Corinthian leather...
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
This is Côtes du Rhône. The bright, fruity punch up front, the spicy, earthy edges and dark fruit haunted palate, but not too heavy, not too brooding. This is such a good bottle of wine at this price that I'm kind of astonished and I wish I'd bought four of them.
It was tasty on its own and then with the pepperoni pizza I put down on this working night. Now I'm outside, listening to the wind (and the damn chimes next door) and the coyotes and it's still a delight, though it has evolved, since being opened hours ago, to a more earthy palate.
A reflection on the past few links I've made to vignerons: French winemakers--hire bloggers from the U.S. to write your English-language presentation for your websites! We will work for booze. We will pitch your stuff with passion and good grammar. We will enhance your SEO! You will sell more wine!
Also, another thing for (at least some) non-U.S. wineries to experiment with: direct-to-customer allocations. I have no idea what the laws are (whether there'd have to be sheltering importers or something for this country or that), and I know you love your negociants, but this is the future enabled by the InterWebs.
