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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.8 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 103 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by SCM Fan on 3/18/2021 & rated 94 points: Popped n poured from 58 degree cellar. This after a DISAPPOITING '07 Le Vieux Donjon. What a nose on this wine. Pure Grenache. Excellent. why I drink Rhone wines. Red and dark fruits with some florals. Juicy attack with acidity. Tannins coating the mouth. After wine opened and warmed up more dark plum in flavor. A true Rhone treat. BPwine is where I purchased this. I just hope to have another bottle left. Excellent wine. Best Rhone drank since Domaine Duriel '07 CdP 2 years ago. (848 views) | | | Tasted by dlowrey99 on 12/19/2019 & rated 92 points: Drinking well after 12 years; for $13 this was an excellent wine, easy to open on a weeknight. Very much enjoyed!
Nose and palate on first pour out of the bottle were fruit-dominant, but wine was still very much alive. Cork strong; no seepage. Decanted for about 30-45 minutes, wine opened up and balanced out nicely.
Nose: macerated black cherry and plum; some funk, wet hay, and dusty gravel notes. Soft clove oak.
Med+ body; Med acidity; 14.5% alcohol.
Palate: deep and rich, balanced, good layers with the age. Kirsch/black cherry, dark plum, lavender; savory herb, black olive, brush; a little heat from the alcohol; cocoa nibs from the oak; dried grapefruit rind finish with well-integrated slightly drying tannins; med-long finish to match. (1063 views) | | | Tasted by Badfish on 8/3/2019: Somehow this wine pulls off the vintage, despite how poor I have found the other offerings from this estate recently. The best terroir in the portfolio which makes this an interesting data point for the extreme 2007 vintage. Ripe red and purple fruits with fresh acidity, firm tannins, and admirable balance. Pushing the envelop on extraction which you can feel on the finish. (1322 views) | | | Tasted by tewino on 6/5/2019: This hits the spot for a good southern rhone in 2007. Red fruits with great nose. Very burgundian- almost Volnay-ish. Cleaner style. The ripe fruit is well balanced with the acids and tannins. Not overripe at all. Very nice. (1310 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 9/3/2017 & rated 91 points: Youthful and dark red. Grilled herbs, cedar, and smoke on the nose . Balanced fruit, acidity and meaty flavors. Finishes with pretty cherry preserves. Doubt it will get any better, but okay at age 10 . Drank with grilled lamb chops, blue cheese potato salad and fresh tomato. (1779 views) | | | Tasted by gregg g on 4/16/2015: This bottle was singing. Drink this now! Perfectly balanced with a bit of tang playing with the beautifully aged fruit. Just perfect structure. The lamb kebabs and this wine!!! I'm drinking my last bottle soon. Could not be a better showing. (2859 views) | | | Tasted by JavaMonkey on 3/7/2015 & rated 91 points: Dark, ruby-purple color. Beautiful Rhone bombshell. Big blackberry, with some bright strawberry fruit, a little herbal character. Great balance, with plenty of acidity. Medium-heavy palate, very full. Delicious. (2507 views) | | | Tasted by PVJC on 11/10/2014: Dark, concentrated wine. A bit dry but tannins have softened and overall drinking very nicely. Was a good buy for $25, wish I had more. (2543 views) | | | Tasted by isbjoern on 10/4/2014 & rated 90 points: Still very lively with exellent depth and flavors of sweet dark fruits and exotic spices, soft tannins and well integrated alcohol. A nicely composed wine, rich and generous and easy to like. Good now, but no sign of age yet. - 90 points (2571 views) | | | Tasted by schwollonson on 9/13/2014 & rated 91 points: Great Rasteau. Should be close to its best by now. (2348 views) | | | Tasted by rustyRudy on 8/4/2014 & rated 91 points: Purple in color. Nice nose. Next to last bottle. Rich, aromatic, nice concentration. Stellar wine for the money! (1579 views) | | | Tasted by Jimdish25 on 6/12/2014 & rated 91 points: Have to agree with the previous reviewer. This is a vital wine whose tannins have smoothed considerably and created a savory ripeness with good balance. It's opened to the point where the aromas jump from the bottle with stewed dark fruit and underbrush. The wine has a solid midpalate and a consistent finish with a bit of heat on the back end. This was tamed by a good steak, eggplant or goat cheese app. A lot of fruit but enough complexity and balance to handle it. Not over the top and a great value for those who had the patience to wait. Drink now. (1786 views) | | | Tasted by WilD on 6/6/2014 & rated 90 points: P&P. Nice vital wine. Great CdR. Buy this domaine in fine years. (1538 views) | | | Tasted by wurzel68 on 12/6/2013 & rated 90 points: Tiefes purpur; an der Nase intensive Heidelbeer-, Johannisbeer- und Winterapfelaromen; Röstnoten, etwas Schokolade, am Gaumen klarer, kräftiger, gut strukturierter Wein mit langem Abgang und Massen an feinem Tannin; lecker, aber eher ein Blockbuster als ein CdR Villages (1866 views) | | | Tasted by PVJC on 7/8/2013: I had a glass and liked it the first night and was looking forward to seeing how it was on day 2. Jenn thought it was a bit dry but then drank all the rest of it with Sonia the next night before I got home... (2058 views) | | | Tasted by winemaker on 2/2/2013 & rated 91 points: This is a monster of a Cotes du Rhone Villages. It is 50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and 25% Mourvedre. This wine will age for a long time. It is still very primary. Still dark purple. The Syrah and Mourvedre currently dominate the aromas. This is my last bottle and I should have waited another 3-4 years. This wine is rich, round, viscous and harmonious with a decant of about an hour. There are fine supporting tannins underneath the fruit. There is some garrigue and and minerality present. The fruit profile currently seems dominated by the syrah. The finish here is pretty long. (2447 views) | | | Tasted by jbouchy on 1/16/2013 & rated 92 points: Pulled cork and used an aerating pouring device. Enjoyed with pork chops, fingerling potatoes, bacon and squash. Fabulous pairing! Drinking beautifully. Nicely balanced with great acidity. Great depth and complexity. Can't believe this is a Cotes du Rhone as it is on par with many CDPs. Can't believe it was around $20!! Happy to have five more in the cellar but will be on the hunt for the 2010's. (2402 views) | | | Tasted by WilD on 12/24/2012 & rated 89 points: Nice..... (2545 views) | | | Tasted by ChrisR on 12/2/2012 & rated 91 points: Very similar in profile to my previous bottle. Brooding black fruits, spicy, garrigue and earth, dense, almost creamy in texture. (2362 views) | | | Tasted by gregg g on 12/1/2012: Big, rich, dense & powerful. Actually has settled down a bit since I last tried it 2 yrs ago. It has the structure for further aging. (2161 views) | | | Tasted by winemaker on 10/12/2012 & rated 91 points: Big and rich. Drinking really well right now. Plenty of garrigue and complexity here. I love the note of anise in this wine. (1860 views) | | | Tasted by sehill on 9/9/2012 & rated 87 points: Opened and poured, this wine showed well but at times the rich fruit and concentration detracts from the overall impression of the wine. The bouquet shows rich dark fruits coupled with subtle spice and earth notes. At times the bouquet shows some port like qualities. The color is a dark ruby to purple that is opaque and extracted. The full bodied palate shows concentrated, rich fruit with enough tannins on the finish to keep fruit elements in check. This is probably at or around its peak. (2075 views) | | | Tasted by cobbpa on 9/3/2012 & rated 90 points: Similar note to earlier this year. Dark fruits, some roasted herbs intertwined. Pure & delicious fruit that's dense without being heavy. Great garrigue note on the lengthy finish. (2053 views) | | | Tasted by winemaker on 7/12/2012 & rated 90 points: Very 2007. Big and rich. Lots of grenache fruit with anise and some garrigue. With air the garrigue becomes more pronounced. very good wine. Excellent QPR. (2059 views) | | | Tasted by cobbpa on 5/13/2012 & rated 89 points: Great purple color. Blue fruit on the nose, with some meat and herbs lurking. Bit of black cherry there too, which comes through nicely on the palate along with black raspberry & an undercurrent of meatiness. Great fruit component that is rich but not dominant or overpowering. Taut finish of dark fruits, a touch of herbs, meaty acid & some chewy structure. (2172 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Domaine les Grands Bois Producer website
Marc Besnardeau is from Paris originally and before he met Mireille Farjon, he was a sommelier at one of the better restaurants in Paris (in the Montmartre section). In marrying her he not only moved, but also made the complete change from the city life to the life of a vigneron. His fine palate as a sommelier, however, put him in good stead for evaluating wine and making his own. He knew, for example, that when he bought wines, to look for those with low yields and concentration and sought out the examples that were bottled unfiltered. He now has the opportunity to put these views into practice. The domaine that Marc Besnardeau has taken over is very well situated between St. Cecile and Cairanne. From these vines he produces several cuvees. The Cotes du Rhone that we get from him is our selection, about two-thirds Grenache, one-third Syrah, though this varies slightly form vintage to vintage, but is always bottled unfiltered. The Cotes du Rhone Villages cuvee we generally favor is Cuvee Gabrielle named after one of their three daughters. This cuvee is about half Grenache the balance principally Syrah and Mourvedre and is aged for a short time in barrique. Marc also has recently acquired a parcel in Cairanne that is a great example of one of the best value appellations in France. All of his wines are deeply colored, ripe, robust and while one can think of many flavors to describe them, the word delicious pretty much says it all.Red Rhone Blend Read about the different grapes used to produce red and white Rhone wines
On CellarTracker, Red Rhone Blend is the term for a wine consisting of two or more of the traditional 13 Southern Rhone grape varieties. Typically it's the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre or Cinsault grapes, but can also contain the Muscardin, Counoise, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picpoul, Roussanne, Terret Noir, Picardan or Vaccarese grapes.
A 'food' wine. Lacking pretension and intended for local consumption with local cuisine. Lacks the 'high' notes on a Bordeaux, more earthy and sharper so often a better partner to meat dishes with a sauce. France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comRhône Guide to the wines, wineries and appellations in the Rhone Valley The Rhône Valley/Le Vins de la Vallée du Rhône (Comité Interprofession des vins AOC Côtes et vallée du Rhône)
### Wine Scholar Guild's Rhône valley vintage charts & ratings ###Southern Rhône Guide to the wines, wineries and appellations in the Southern Rhone Valley
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