Friday, December 10, 2021

Vignobles de la Vallee du Rhone Collection Rhone Cotes du Rhone, 2020

As Cotes du Rhone prices have gone up, I have tended to focus my purchases more on Cotes du Rhone Villages wines (a step up in quality as well as price) and give them a few years of aging in the bottle. That is a shame, I decided tonight as I tasted a young (2020) Cotes du Rhone. There is a lot of pleasure lurking in young CDRs that I have been missing. This selection, only $6.99 at Trader Joe's, is a throwback to the wines I enjoyed for a similar price back in the 1990s and 1980s.

Deep crimson. Beautiful scents focusing on red cherries and peppery spice. 55% Grenache, 30% Carignan and 15% Syrah. Tannins, clearly derived from skins and pips rather than oak, are entwined beautifully with the fruit. If this is an indication of what the 2020 Rhone vintage offers, I will be a buyer. And I will return to Trader Joe's for more of this lovely Collection Rhone. Good now and will stay that way for at least a couple of years.

No comments:

Post a Comment