Southern style wines

Informal dinner E & T
Tasted Sunday, August 24, 2008 by Roughl with 418 views

Introduction

Informal pasta dinner. The wines were chosen last minute and the choice was very good. An interesting line-up of three wines that all showed well. We started with the Zinfandel, followed by the Roussillon Southern rhone mostly grenache blend and ended with the 100% syrah. All three wines are playing in the same league: a warm style, with good aroma's. Raspberry, raisiny flavors, dried herbes de provence, chocolate, cacao. Flavors that sprung to my mind several times. Surprisingly, a homogenous tasting. I liked the Zin best, the Mas Amiel came on second place and the GTS third (this corresponds to the price variation of the wines), but all three are well crafted, and worth seeking out. I believe that all wines come from low yield, vieilles vignes, but that is just a (reasoned) guess. No formal notes taken, only some impressions.

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

  • 2005 Domaine LePlan-Vermeersch Syrah Côtes du Rhône Villages GT-S 88 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages

    warm syrah. I even thought it was a southern rhone blend when first tasting the wine. Well made, but in my opinion less balanced than the 2006. I liked this wine better on the fruit 1 or 2 years ago. No formal notes taken

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  • 2004 Ridge Lytton Springs 89 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

    I really liked this. Warm, stylish, with lots of herbs, a bit of wood. Just enough acidity to keep it vibrant. Good length. More serious than I remembered (bottle drank in 2007). I don't have a lot of experience with Zinfandel, but this bottle seemed ready to rock and roll. very good 89 pts

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  • 2004 Mas Amiel Côtes du Roussillon Villages Carerades 88 Points

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon Villages

    Very good. Warm, southern rhone style, with lots of raspberries in smell and taste. Rather heavy though. 88/89pts

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