January 8, 2023 - 2010 Vignobles Balma Vénitia Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret Terrasse Pavée ($13 in 2013, Invino). Amazing GSM value. Keeps evolving. Mid-ruby, amber edges, viscous (14.0 alc.); red fruit, tea leaf, smokey, earthy nose; low-mid acids; low-mid tannins; balanced; good depth of fruit; food-friendly; nice finish. 16 UC Davis scale; 90 other scales.
January 12, 2019 - Dry, austere, drying out. A bit thin as well. That said, we had no trouble finishing it, not bad on its own and very nice with dinner. Drink up.
December 13, 2015 - Mid-garnet; earthy, smokey, Grenache nose; mid-body; balanced acids and tannins; rounding out; a good food wine; long semi-chewy finish. w/BBQ.
March 18, 2015 - This bottle was definitely worse than the rest. Just not worth drinking. May be at the end of the window.
April 30, 2014 - Dark ruby red. Very discrete nose at first, with air develops aromas of back fruits, cloves, and lavender.
Very smooth with velevety tannins. Shows ripe blackberries and wild raspberries, some backcurrants. Still very fresh.
Very dry and well balanced, the wines remains round with ripe fruits.
This is a no brainer for the price and will purchase it again.
Better than some Châteauneuf for a fraction of the price.
March 14, 2014 - This wine was supposed to be a good QPR at $9.98 from Wine Library. It wasn't. Popped and poured. Astringent at first and not enjoyable. Red fruit on palate and nose. Slight tar hints and alcohol on the nose. Hints of spice and chocolate on the palate. After breathing 5-10 min in the glass it smoothed out for the rest of the glass which was shared with a few friends. Glass #2 was astringent in the beginning, smoothed out after a minute or two and then got astringent again and bone dry after about 10 min in the glass. This wine has a very limited drinking window once you pop the cork. I do not see this wine getting better with age.
I will post back with day #2 results.
March 5, 2014 - Great value in GSM from Seguret (Cotes du Rhone Village). Same as last tasting on nose, flavor. Had with pork stir fry (broccoli, carrots, beans, rice).
February 6, 2014 - Purple round rim, mainly smoke with sharp fruit on nose. On palate, attractive with pepper finishing on tannic note
Not bad value, not a long life ahead of it
January 12, 2014 - Dark purple with some browning at the edges, this wine revealed plum, dark red fruits and graphite on the nose. The mouth feel was full with more red fruits, graphite and spices coming out. The finish was medium but the acidity didn't balance well with the fruit and tannins, leaving a harsh, chemical taste.
At $13US, this isn't a wine I'd purchase again. The value was decent but there are too many other better wines from CDR to drink mediocre ones like this.
January 9, 2014 - Nose of bright fruit right out of the gate black cherry, black currant and vanilla. The pallet features plum, black currant, cherry, and black spice. A nice finish of pepper and anise. There are soft well integrated tannins and I aspect this to develop well over the next 4-5 years. Very enjoyable.