2006 Delas Frères Côtes du Rhône Saint-Esprit

Community Tasting Notes (31) Avg Score: 87.2 points

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  9/7/2015 - jonahfactor Likes this wine:

  Sadly, our last bottle. Like spending an evening with an old friend. He's thrifty (costs less than $8), reliable (has provided pleasure at more weeknight dinners than we can remember) and engaging (see previous notes). Understandably, churning out plenty of grit and browning at the rim, this still seemed fresh in the glass with dark flowers and chalky minerals in the bouquet, plums, blackberries and jammy cherries on the palate and a bit of sea breeze in the finish. All this at the tariff of a humble CdR. We've probably had two cases of this vintage over the years. Sad to have popped the cork on the last bottle.

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  11/14/2014 - jonahfactor Likes this wine:

  Has held up remarkably well for such a humble CdR. But it's definitely time to drink up. Considerable browning and grit in the legs. Muted nose, but a great texture on the palate, where the flavors have turned more toward prune and woody/stemmy. Some heat in the finish. Rating withheld; this wine was built to drink young. But t'was fun to watch it develop over the last seven years.

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  7/10/2013 - Wink Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Good BBQ wine. Clear dark garnet. Nose of earth, garrigue, dark fruit, and herbs. Bright, medium palate of blackberry, dark fruit, spice, herbs, and licorice. Good length. Bright acidity. Mild tannins. Very good CdR. Welcome to summer!

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  3/19/2011 - jonahfactor wrote: 87 Points

  What can you expect for $8? Quite a bit apparently. Though not as complex as previous bottles of the '06 we've popped, this is simply a lovely wine. This bottle opened tight, with some minerals and sour cherry. But as it unfolded in the glass, the cherries sweetened and some raspberries, sweet plums and graphite notes allowed themselves to be coaxed out. Medium bodied with nice legs, although with a reticent aroma over the 90 minutes we enjoyed this. Still a great QPR. Drink in 2011.

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  1/3/2011 - jonahfactor wrote: 89 Points

  This wine -- any vintage -- is always a treat and a reminder of what wonderful bargains Costco used to offer. (Whatever happened to their savvy buyer who up until two years ago found such Rhone gems for a pittance?) For a mere $8 tariff we again enjoyed a wine with a sense of place/terroir. Clearly on a fast track on the aging curve, a lot of the jammy fruit has dropped out, leaving behind a fully integrated wine that features fading dark fruits and haunting aromas. Lyn said the bouquet reminded her of an old attic -- "but in a good way." Medium bodied with beautiful legs, it still has a fairly vibrant opening on the tongue, fades a bit in the middle, but leaves you with a wonderful finish that can best be described as a stroll through a first-class antique store. This bottom-of-the-line offering from Delas clearly trumps some other much pricier top-of-the-line Rhones and Cali-Rhones. Drink up this year before it fades away.

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View all 31 Community Tasting Notes

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