Monday, November 9, 2009

Delas Saint Esprit Cotes du Rhone, 2007

Of all the highly publicized 2007 Cotes du Rhones, this is one that truly lives up to the hype. It's deep and dark, the color of Syrah more than Grenache but with no sign of new oak treatment. Again on the nose, it's very Syrah but with the openness and charm that you expect from a Grenache-based wine. I believe the blend is 75/25. Very open black and red fruits with peppercorns; ripe but with great structure. It coats the tongue and the roof of the mouth and leaves a strong impression of ripe plums and black peppercorn on the finish. With or without food, this wine will keep you coming back for glass after glass.

I bought the Delas Cotes du Rhone last Spring when D&W FreshMarkets was offering it for a case price under $100. It's still available there and at Village Corner in Ann Arbor. And I recently noticed a World Market ad offering the wine for $9.99/bottle. If you don't have any yet, I suggest you give it a try.

3 comments:

  1. Picked up a couple of bottles of this wine at World Market. I agree completely with your review. Really good wine, and a great value.

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  2. I'm a wine newbie and discovered Cotes du Rhone from a salespersons' recommendation at BevMo last summer. My first bottle was the 2006 La Vieille Ferme, which led to the discovery of this wonderful website when I was researching what I was drinking. My second was the 2007 Valreas Cuvee Prestige I found at Trader Joes. But tonight the best of the bunch, the Delas Saint Esprit. Wow, I will be making a return trip to World Market to pick up more.

    Thanks for your hard work and spreading the word on good quality affordable wine.

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  3. I'm glad you enjoyed the wine. I bought a case last summer, and it gets better every time I try it.

    Thanks for the compliments on the blog, amazonblue. If you liked these wines, I suspect you'd also like the 2007 Louis Latour Domaine de Valmoissine Pinot Noir. It was marked down from $14.99 to $9.99 at World Market just before Christmas. Even though it's a Burgundy-style wine rather than a Southern Rhone it has the same kind of fruit intensity.

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