Domaine du Grand Prieur Cotes du Rhone, 2007

For the past three vintages, this wine has been unusually dark and purplish for a Cotes du Rhone. The nose is right on target for Grand Prieur--blueberries, licorice, garrigue, black pepper. On the palate, the black pepper and licorice dominate; in some ways, the fruit is more developed than I would expect at this age but the wine still has some tannin to lose on the mid-palate. The finish is smooth, warm and ripe. This 2007 is right in line with the 2005 and 2006 from Grand Prieur; in fact, I think I prefer the 2005.

I didn't buy a case of Grand Prieur this year because the vintages have been backing up on me. Glad I didn't. So far, the 2007 is nothing special.