Domaine de la Bastide Cotes du Rhone Villages Visan, 2009

I bought more than a case of this wine about 10 years ago and have been sampling it every year since. This is my last bottle, and only now am I able to taste my way through the formidable tannins. Wines from Visan tend to be firmer than those from neighboring CDR Villages appellations. And the wine has 30% Syrah and 20% Mourvedre backing up the 50% Grenache.

Deep and dark; some of the wine has probably been aged in barriques. Fragrant black berries with dark chocolate and spice. I keep looking for Grenache red berries but they are slow to emerge. Warm, ripe fruit but still a bit stern for my taste. I admit that I am overly sensitive to tannin; most drinkers will disagree with my assessment of what is generally considered a very fine CDR Villages wine.