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Wednesday 23 November 2005

Wine reviews: Côtes du Rhône 2004 and Touraine: Curvée du Savoir 2003

Côtes du Rhône 2004 and Touraine: Curvée du Savoir 2003

Both of these wines cost 4,50€. Both these wines are appellations contrôlées, meaning they're named for a region and only wines from that region may have that name. There the similarity ends.

The Côtes du Rhône 2004 has a fruity nose with strong hints of apple and an afterthought of vanilla. The taste is syrupy, but not sweet, creating a disharmony between the nose and the mouth. It has a slightly acidic flavor, with a hint of lemon peel and an overtone of unripe fruit. Unlike most modestly priced wines, it' has fat, slow-forming legs, showing a certain viscosity that I haven't before seen in wines I've purchased in Paris.

The winery is Vignerons de Beaumes de Venise S.C.A. Vaucluse - France. I bought this bottle at a wine shop I'd never been in before. I'm going to assume it's not representative of Côtes du Rhône.

The Touraine: Curvée du Savoir 2003 was fruity and understated. It faded quietly to the background when paired with cream of broccoli soup. I can't say much about it because it didn't have much to say. It would probably go with anything and it's very drinkable: light and fruity. There is absolutely nothing to complain about. It uses Gamay grapes which are fruity and tend to be lower alcohol (this wine is 12% vs 14% for the other bottle).

The winery is Coteaux Romains 41140 Saint Romain/s/cher - france

Since Nicole is gone, I probably won't be reviewing any wine for a while. I'm thinking of settling down with the 3€ wine form the fromagerie (the Pigmentum) because it's cheap and good and I can get 3 bottles of it for the same price at 2 bottles of these more expensive wines what tell you things like what kind of grapes they have. However, I think there's a wine show next weekend, so maybe I'll have things to talk about from that.

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1 comment:

Charles Céleste Hutchins said...

Indeed. I think that most 4,50€ wines are actually worse than many 3€ and 4€ wines. Because around 3 and 4, you get near the top of the anonymous blended wine. But once you over 4, you get to the very bottom of the "real" wines. The only advantage I can see in spending the extra €s is so I could possibly find the same wine at Kermit Lynch or something when I get back home. But then I'll be into cheap california wines, so there's no point.

Actually, there's a great French white I really like that I found there . . .

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