Hunt wrote:
> If the Turley boys did a Côtes-du-Rhône, this might be it. Just had the 1996
> Coudoulet de Beaucastle, Côtes-du-Rhône and was it ever a concentrated wine.
> The Perrin brothers produce this Côtes-du-Rhône with grapes from the Ch
> teauneuf-du-Pape region, and list: Mourvèdre. Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah as
> the predominant varietals. Though no formula was printed for the "mix," the
> label states that each varietal is harvested and vinified separately, then
> blended. It is also listed as being "organic," and "unfiltered," which would
> explain the fair amount of sediment in the bottle.

Just a clarification, Hunt: sediment can easily form in filtered wines,
too. It's produced by the polymerization of tannins, so any wine that's
tannic in its youth ought to drop some sediment as it ages.

<SNIP nice notes>

> I'm glad that I still have four of the ‘96s in the cellar. Recently, I've not
> found many Côtes-du-Rhônes that really did much for me. Most seemed too thin,
> dilute, and lacking in character. This one was anything but dilute. It might
> be too concentrated for some, but was "good to the last drop," with apologies
> to Folger's Coffee. Actually, with the sediment, I really didn't get the "last
> drop." Talk about difficult, pouring from a Burgundy/Rhône bottle, and NOT get
> the sediment. Maybe the Perrins should have broken with tradition, and used a
> Bordeaux-shaped bottle for this little monster.

Thanks for the notes, Hunt. '96 was quite a weak year in the S. Rhone,
so I am amazed that the Perrins got as much into the Coudoulet as they
did. As for your general complaint about CdRs, I agree that most are
too dilute to be interesting, but there are a number of exceptions. One
of my favorites in recent years is Dom. L'Espigouette's, but Alary's
Cairannes and Texier's Brezeme are others that are nice, albeit a bit
more pricey.

Mark Lipton