A glass-staining black-ruby colour, totally opaque. Expressive nose with cedar, charcoal, balsamic, black cherry and oil. Sumptuous palate, kicking off with powerful Mourvèdre texture, then relaxing to explode with more primary fruit flavours, kirsch and cassis liqueurs. This is a savoury and serious wine with very well held and totally integrated tannins, present throughout but not overpresent. Heady, very long, fine and moreish. It feels complete and inviting but built for the long term too. An impressive trick.
From 14 hectares in the south west of the old village. The soils are stony, with clay and sand underneath. This wine is typically fleshy when young but develops beautiful aromas of blackcurrant, garrigue and liquorice with a few years age.
Grenache dominant wine produced on very clay rich soils with stones from the Ouvèze river.
"Beautiful dark and shiny color. The nose is very expressive, pure and aromatic with great mineral notes. The palate presents a structure of great finesse, elegant with ripe fruit. The tannins are rich, noble and silky." Famille Perrin
More classic Sauternes style. Rich stone fruits, a smoky backbone, and a syrupy finish. Declared a 1er Cur Classé at the 1855 Sauternes and Barsac Classification, Château Coutet has been producing wine since 1643. Boasting both the largest vineyard in Barsac (thirty-eight-and-a-half hectares) as well as the largest cellar (110 meters), Château Coutet has been owned by the Baly family since 1977 and managed by Aline Baly since 2009.
Coudoulet showing really good value for money. Deep ruby, with a complex nose of violet, cranberry, black fruit, and cocoa. This wine is instantly pretty in the glass. Full bodied with excellent acidty and a firm backbone of ripe tannin. Layers of flavour appear and recede: chocolate, plums, pâte de fruits, then mint, then black cherry, then seville orange. Impressive and rather moreish. Delightful now but should evolve nicely over the next decade.
Wine Advocate James Suckling Decanter Jeb Dunnuck Jancis Robinson Jean-Marc Quarin
93-95 96-97 94 95-97 18 17
Jancis Robinson "85.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% Merlot. Aged for 18 months in barrel (60% new).
Lustrous purple. Minerally, stony, saline nose. Really remarkably opulent on palate entry which almost distracts from those massive tannins underneath. There's just a suggestion of vintage port tannins here (not the sweetness). Very fine winemaking indeed. I have to admit I was tempted to swallow this, it was so majestic. I don't remember being as bowled over by a Léoville Barton at this early stage before. Lovely, confident, persistent finish. Such grace!"
CWM Ranking - High 2:1
55% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot Dark ruby. Ripe cassis nose with some vanilla and spice. Fine and poised palate, all rather silky and fresh yet with plenty of blackcurrant and plum flavour, and ripe tannin. Medium bodied.
CWM Ranking: First Class
61% CS 34% M 5% PV deep ruby, gravelly Cabernet nose, plenty of ripe fruit and oak, ripe fruit, quite elegant medium body, decent level of tannin and acidity. Balanced and structured. Drink in 5-10 years.
CWM Ranking: First Class
57.5% cabernet sauvignon, 38% merlot, 4.5% petit verdot and just 21 hl/ha as a result of mildew attacks in the spring, deep gravels affecting younger vines. Deep ruby, nice straightforward nose, cabernet on gravels, oak, very well defined medium body, charming fruit, texture, good length and clean acidity. Very good.
Vinsobres is the most northern appellation of the Southern Rhône. The Perrin family owns around 80 hectares here. The vineyards grow at altitudes of 200 - 450 metres, in terraces, with the Prealps on one side and Mont Ventoux on the other. The soils are stony and sandy marl on the slopes, and stony quaternary alluviums on the terraces. A very particular microclimate protects the village and the vines planted which are planted in amphitheatre formation. Summers are hot and dry, with the local Mistral and Pontias winds bringing cooler air at night.
Dense purple colour. Richly aromatic: black fruits, stewed plums, even some prune. Complex floral aromas too. A little reduced and herbal - high Syrah content? Full bodied and spicy with a tight, savoury palate and a robust tannin structure. Some juicy red plum on the finish, and a little richness from oak. Long. The patient buyer will be rewarded in another 7-10 years.
The Dentelles de Montmirail (from the Latin mons mirabilis, ‘extraordinary mountain’) is a small, jagged mountain chain that forms a natural amphitheatre around the sandstone village of Gigondas and its surrounding vineyards. Roman legionaries chose this beautiful, protected site to plant their grapevines. Located mid-slope at 300-400 metres above sea level, the Famille Perrin vineyard is amongst the most historical vineyards in Gigondas. It benefits from a flow of cold air which blows through the valley situated to the west of the village. The vines grow on limestone, calcareous marl and sandy soils, giving the Grenache immense finesse and elegance with unique aromas. Some old plots of Grenache planted on sand have pre-phylloxera vines.
Deep ruby but not as saturated as the Vinsobres. Attractive notes of black cherry, liquorice, balsamic, pine and black pepper spice. Subtle oak. An intense and tightly wound palate displays hedgerow fruits, slightly bitter chocolate tannin and chalky minerality. Then it unwinds to express more jammy fruit, fruitcake spices, dried fruits, and a charming acidity to a long finish. Very supple. An earlier drinking style, but still with the potential to age gracefully.
