Chapoutier Les Vignes de Bila Haut, Cotes du Roussillon Villages, 2011

This wine is a Southern Rhone blend, but I sense a relatively high percentage of Syrah and Mourvedre rather than Grenache.

Color, smells and flavors are all dark. Dark cherries, blue plums, cassis, black pepper. Smells more tannic than it tastes. Very smooth texture and ripe flavors. My first impression pegged it as a pleasurable, though somewhat one-dimensional wine, for early drink. On the second and third nights, though, some extra dimensions started to appear. It's a well made wine worth following.