Domaine Sainte Anne Cotes du Rhone Villages, 2000

At 11 years of age, this CDR Villages has a medium deep color and a beautiful summer pudding nose--red berries, blue berries, black berries and more berries. Also purple flowers and spices. It has the characteristic Domaine Sainte Anne ripeness and a glycerined feel on the mid-palate. Very little of the pepper that you find in Rhone wines from Vaucluse but more elegance and grace. The wine has just shed its baby fat and has reached a nice stage of maturity for my taste. Compared to other wines from this estate, however, this 2000 CDR Villages is not particularly complex and could use just a bit more acidity.