Domaine du Vieux Lazeret 2007 and 2008

It has been quite a while since I updated this blog, for which I apologize. It certainly was not because I have not been drinking any wine! And so I return with this post about two very lovely, but quite different, Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the same house.

I brought these wines out of my cellar, er closet to an annual dinner hosted by my friends Curt and Tim. For Christmas evening Tim prepared a cassoulet, an excellent meal to pair with a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I selected the 2007 and 2008 by Domaine du Vieux Lazeret because as I was updating my inventory, I learned that these bottles had fallen into the "drink now" category. Because my wine cellar is a closet, I cannot keep wines for the full length of what the recommended cellaring time may be. Needless to say, I was a bit alarmed and worried these wines might have gone bad, and that would be unfortunate.

Happily, we all were quite pleased to discover that the 2007 might have had some more time left (sadly, it was the last bottle in my closet), while the 2008 was perfect (I do have one more of the 2008). Despite coming from the same house, each wine was quite different.

The 2007 had a delightful herbal and earthy bouquet blooming out from the steely garnet color as we decanted. This wine had plenty of leg on the glass, as well as firm tannin that suggested that despite the "drink now" warning this wine might have endured another year in my closet. There was a delicious sour cherry note mixed with some chocolate and cinnamon. Wine Spectator was a bit stingy rating this an 89, but I rate it with a 9 using my scale at the left.

The 2008 was a different animal right from the first pour. Rather than a sharp garnet, this was a ruby red, and the nose was lush with blackberry. The spice notes were still there and some delicious cocoa at the finish, but the tannin was softer. This wine was definitely ready and drunk at the right time. Wine Spectator rated this one an 88, which I'm inclined to agree with. While the wine was delicious, it was pretty narrow and lacked that characteristic bigness so commonly associated with Southern Rhône reds. I will also rate this with a 9 using my scale. And given the fact this wine was definitely ready, the other bottle in my closet will not be there for long.

Famille Perrin, Côtes du Rhône Villages, 2010

Nothing is better than finding a $10 wine that drinks like something more expensive, and this one does. The Famille Perrin line is from the fabulous house Château de Beaucastel, crafter of some great Châteauneuf-du-Pape and some high-end Côtes du Rhône Villages, the latter costing you close to $40.

The Famille Perrin line retains that richness and earthy quality with a nose filled with cinnamon and dark chocolate. The fruit is subtle and lightly hoisted on a mineral beam that gives a clean finish with smooth tannin. It's cherry, but it's not. It's cassis, but it's not. Currant, perhaps, but it's not. Delightful, it is! This is a great wine for a party because it won't cost you a lot to impress your guests.

This is a great bargain. I score it 8.5 using my scale at the left.

2012 Provence rosé shines again

My search for the perfect summer wine has been exceptional so far because of the plethora of great rosé that is available. The Rhône region of France, more specifically Provence and the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region, traditionally produces great rosé, and many of these can be had at bargain prices. My latest tasting exploration brought be to the 2012 vintage Minervois from Chateau Sainte Eulalie.

While the DMZ from South Africa and the Spanish Jumilla rosé I tasted remain top contenders, you won't go wrong with this wine, particularly when you consider it's just $10 a bottle.

Like all the rosé I've tasted so far, this is very food-friendly and would go great with roast chicken.

It is a blend of primarily of Syrah and Cinsault with smaller proportions of Carignan and Grenache. It's full of strawberry, raspberry, and even cranberry, with a hint of herb. It has a long, fresh finish that leaves the palate clean.

I score this an 8.5 using my scale at the left.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc

Whenever someone asks me what is my favorite wine, I unhesitatingly reply "Châteauneuf-du-Pape." This region consistently produces outstanding red blends that cellar well and can rival classic Bordeaux. Best part too is that Châteauneuf-du-Pape - even the classic ones - can be had for a fraction of the cost of classic Bordeaux.

What is fun for me as well is to see that expression of surprise on one's face, particularly if that person shows any familiarity with Châteauneuf-du-Pape, when I talk about the classic white wines that come from this appellation in the Southern Rhône. I even stumped a chef one time when a friend and I showed up at the restaurant with a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. The chef admitted he had never heard of it. And needless to say, it went spectacularly well with the whitefish on the menu.

Describing a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc is a bit tricky. First, there are six permitted grape varieties that may be used, but all six need not be used. There are, in fact, examples of this wine produced entirely with a single varietal. These grapes are not widely known even among those who consider themselves wine aficionados; they include Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Bourboulenc, Clairette and Picpoul as the most common. So when first tasting this wine, one might be a bit perplexed. This wine has the stern, mineral character, as well as the lightness, of a white Burgundy, rich with delicate orchard fruit like peach and pear. But there are spices and other flavors here that can befuddle the experienced palate, flavors of star fruit, anise, almond, and even fennel.

It's not a wine that will show up with any frequency at most wine stores, let alone a restaurant wine list. Part of this obscurity is due to its limited production. Just 7 percent of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation is set aside for white varietals, and many of these are used in the red blends, leaving just 5 percent of the yield available for white wine production. Plus, despite the price (this wine can start at $30 per bottle, ranges mostly in the $40 to $60 area, but some can cost hundreds), these wines are generally crafted to drink young; very few are cellar-worthy (there is some debate about this).

But oh my, when you find one, they are worth it. And I recently found the 2011 vintage from Domaine Chante Cigale at the tempting price point of $30. I bought two of these and I admit I am tempted to go back for some more.

This particular blend is an even 25 percent each of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Roussanne, and Bourboulenc. I served it with sword fish steaks that had been marinated with mango and herbs. It paired beautifully with the heft of the sword fish, the wine showing as bright, juicy, and yet steely clean. There was just the right amount of orchard fruit, but that hint of anise and fennel was there dancing about the chilled taste of river stones.

While this wine is not something to keep for decades, it should store well over the next 3 to 5 years provided the right conditions can be had. And at $30, this is a good find.

I score this a 9.5 using my scale at the left. Wine Spectator scores it 91.

A French quartet

Trying new wines with a group of others can be a fun and educational experience. Will you all have the same reaction to the same wine? What flavor notes do you detect compared with what others are tasting?

Often the answer to these questions is both yes and no. A group of people can have a similar reaction to a wine in a broad sense, but different people will taste and smell different things according to their own character as well as their own biology. After all, one person may smell something in a wine that another person cannot simply because he  or she cannot detect that particular scent under any circumstances.

Recently I attended a wine tasting with a group of fellow members of the I Like Red Wine Meet Up group here in Chicago. Cities all across America have Meet Up groups and they're relatively easy to set up should you have a particular interest but cannot find a group already organized.

There were four French wines for the evening's tasting, all from the Boystown wine store The Gourmet Grape.

The first was a Bordeaux Blanc, the 2010 Château de Lestiac. As with virtually all French wines, this is a blend, and with virtually all Bordeaux Blanc, it was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. It had a very bright flavor, strong mineral, almost slate-like. There was the signature citrus and herb of the Sauvignon Blanc, but there was softer fruit as well, more like pear, perhaps from the Semillon. I could not taste any oak, although others said they did. I could see this wine working well with swordfish, but surprisingly, I found a website that suggested this wine would do well with a variety of lamb dishes! I don't know about anyone else, but when I think of lamb, I think of earthy reads from the Southern Rhône.

The second wine was a Cotes du Rhône, the 2010 Jean-LucColombo Les Abeilles. Lots of character here built upon smooth tannin. Velvety fruit with black cherry and a hint of spice with white pepper. The blend here is 60 percent Grenache, 30 percent Syrah, and 10 percent Mourvèdre. Another wine that would go well with lamb, but the winemaker also recommends grilled pork, tuna steaks, cured meats and fresh cheese.

Next in line was the 2006 Château de Fontenille, an estate whose lineage goes back to the 13th century. This wine was rich with lots of black fruit with cassis playing the star role. This wine also went really well with a pungent cheese we had, although I can't remember the type of cheese. But it was one we all joked tasted a bit like locker room sox. Yet, when paired with this wine, it was quite good.

The final wine was a 2008 Château Jonqueyres Bordeaux Superior, which actually was a bit of a disappointment. This was all tits and no ass. It was a bit grapey and fruit forward, but lacked a finish. However, it did develop more character after it had been opened for a while, developing strong tannin and more nuanced fruit. But still no finish to speak of.

As the photo suggests, there was a fifth wine that was not on the original plan, a 2012 Beaujolais Nouveau that despite it already being February was quite tasty and fruitful.

So if you want to stir things up a bit, by some wines you've never had before and invite some friends over to taste them. Compare your notes and enjoy yourselves.

Team bonding always easier with wine

When one's wine cellar is a closet, the anxiety experienced prior to tasting something you've kept there for several years can vacillate between clinging fear and scintillating excitement. Such was my array of emotions whilst preparing a dinner party for my work colleagues - including my boss. I had several wines that I thought were ready for drinking, but there was always the risk that one or more of them might have turned.

By the way, I found this "scientific document" that explains what heat does to wine and what you can expect given the storage conditions you have. Closest thing I've found to having a mathematical method for determining when you ought to stop saving that bottle and drink it now.

On the menu was a boneless leg of lamb with spinach, goat cheese, and pine nuts. This was served with a beet salad made with horseradish and Champagne vinegar. The beet greens were cooked and reduced with bacon, cider vinegar, some sugar, and red pepper flakes. For 10 people I had plenty of beets, but barely enough greens for everyone to have a taste, and the greens were awesome. You can buy other greens at the market, but I have never seen beet greens sold separately from the root. Yet you often find just the whole beet without the greens. Where do they go?

The years 2005 and 2006 were both great vintages for the southern Rhône and I had a Châteauneuf-du-Pape for each year, the Les Sinards from Perrin & Fils, and a bottle of Domaine La Roquète respectively. The Les Sinards came out brick red as we decanted, which can be a problematic sign at times. The wine was good, no doubt, expressing that sturdy mineral quality and earthiness the region is famous for. But after we finished that bottle and poured the Domaine La Roquète, we had found the superior of the two wines. Still had that bright mineral quality, but there was noticeable fruit of light blackberry and a bit of cherry. It's bouquet was light with fruit as well, making it an all-around wonderful experience.

I still have one more bottle of the Les Sinards, and based on the one opened for this night, I suspect I need to drink it soon. But who knows? That other bottle may be just fine. And I have two more of the Donaine La Roquète, which I have to add was a tremendous bargain when I found it. I paid just $19 for each bottle, and after that find, I saw that other retailers were asking $42 per bottle for it. It does pay to shop for wine in World Market from time to time!

There was enough lamb left over that I shall be making stew soon. And I wonder what wine I will make that with?

I rate the Les Sinards with an 8.5 and the Domaine La Roquète a 9.5 using my scale at the left.

Clos du Mont Olivet 1989

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a wine worthy of the cellar, a wine that you can lay down for years provided you have reasonable conditions. My cellar – er closet – does not provide the ideal cellar conditions necessary for holding a wine for decades, so even the ones I hold for a few years are still consumed quite young. My friend Curt’s cellar isn’t ideal also, but he manages a fairly constant temperature in the low 60s, which has allowed him to hold on to some really breathtaking wines.

On Christmas Day we enjoyed one of them with dinner.

The 1989 Clos du Mont Olivet was a beautiful bright ruby. The cork came out smoothly and had the luscious inky stamp of age. But here’s where this wine really became intriguing. The nose held barely a hint of fruit, but was filled with earthy scents of forest duff, truffles and rich soil. Supremely drinkable, velvety smooth and filled with earthy flavors that went exceptionally well with our two entreés, the first being a poached Scottish salmon with morel mushroom, the second a delectable duck confit served with roasted Brussels sprouts.

The tannin just about disappeared with the salmon, but when it came to the duck, the tannin returned firmly as well as a bit of pepper. And the finish on this wine was long and complex.

I had to look up what Wine Spectator had on this wine, and I was surprised at what I found. WS rated the wine in 1991 and scored it with an 85, rather a pedestrian score for a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. And incredibly, their review announced that it would best from 1992-94!

Parker was a bit more serious with his rating of 92. At the time of release, the wine retailed for $29. It is available still at some retailers for about $45 to $55, which seems like an outrageous bargain to me. But who knows what conditions it was stored in with these sellers.

Regardless, it was a wonderful experience. I rate it 9.5 out of 10 using my scale at the left.

Three grapes of deliciousness

There's a wide selection of wines that do well with lamb. Many will think of Brunello di Montalcino, and Borolo is a good choice as well. But the wines of the Southern Rhône are exceptional matches with lamb. And there’s such variety! Recently I prepared a boneless leg of lamb stuffed with goat cheese and spinach, served with the 2007 Domaine les Aphillanthes Côte du Rhône-Villages Cuvée 3 Cépages.

Despite my fail on the entrée – the rolled lamb came undone in the oven and overcooked a bit – this Côte du Rhône-Villages matched wonderfully with the lamb, goat cheese and spinach. Domaine les Aphillanthes has produced some great wines over the years, most scored in the high 80s and low to mid 90s by Wine Spectator. It has delicious fruit that comes across smooth, velvety, with just the right amount of tannin giving it a long, memorable finish.

The name 3 Cépages refers to the three grapes used in this blend: Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre. The 2009 currently out is highly rated as well and you ought to be able to find it for less that the suggested $25 retail price. I paid $16 for the 2007, which was rated 91 by WS.

I rate this with a 9 using my scale at the left.

Despite the over-doneness of the lamb, the leftovers made excellent stew. As I revealed here, the secret to great lamb stew is the wine you use to cook with. With this particular batch, I used a 2009 Ventoux, an appellation in the Southern Rhône. The Cuvée des 3 Messes Basses is an inexpensive blend that you ought to find for about $10. It’s good drinking on its own, but it was also great in this stew. Of course, nothing comes close to the batch I made with a 2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape. That was one awesome stew!

Adding to the closet

It seems I haven’t written anything here since my trip to Arizona, and there’s good reason for that. It’s not that I’ve been negligent in writing about the wines I’ve been drinking, it’s just that I haven’t been drinking all that much wine of late.

There were a couple wines, but in those few cases I was negligent because I didn’t jot down any notes. In one case I did jot down a few words. It was for a 2001 Rioja, the Aribau Cuvee Reserva, a Spanish Tempranillo about which I wrote: “Very light, almost like a Pinot. Delicious fruit.” I think I drank this wine at a tapas restaurant in Columbia, S.C., but I’m not certain. Apparently Parker rated this vintage with a 90.

I did find a Kim Crawford 2010 Sauvignon Blanc for just $11; it was an exceptional bargain as this wine usually retails for $17. It was excellent!

And there was a white from Portugal, the 2010 Casa de Vila Verde, the first white wine I’ve had from Portugal. I recall it being very fresh and delightful, but I jotted down nothing for notes.

But I haven’t been completely idle. I’ve added some exciting wines to my cellar – er, closet – and some of them I expect to be drinking this Thanksgiving with family.

One addition to the closet is a 2009 Lirac, which is in the Southern Rhône, the Chateau de Segries Cuvee Reservee by Henri de Lanzac. I drank this one twice so far – once at a restaurant in Conway, S.C. and the other during a dinner with my friend Curt – but I’m afraid I didn’t take any notes. Suffice it to say that I was very impressed with this wine, considering it was just $15. Ah, but I have two more bottles and I will definitely devote a post to this exceptional find. And if you can’t wait, just go out and buy some! It’s that good!

I’ve decided I’m going to attempt to create a vertical flight – or at least as close as I can come to creating one – for Châteauneuf-du-Pape. With the exception of 2008, I have bottles going back to 2005. Even accounting for the fact that my wine cellar is a closet, these wines are age-worthy, many of them for 15 to 20 years.

My most recent additions of these are the 2009 vintage from Domaine Jean Roger, about which I know absolutely nothing (Cellar Tracker suggests you hold until at least 2014), and the basic bottling from Domaine de Cristia. This latter wine comes from a very consistent producer and the 2009 vintage was rated with a 92 and is expected to cellar through 2023. Domaine de Cristia offers some higher end Châteauneufs that are also 90+ wines, but these will cost you; the basic bottling you can find for about $32.

I also recently added a 2009 Beaujolais, the Domaine Diochon Moulin-a-Vent, which we may drink this weekend.

Some new ones for drinking right away I picked up include the 2010 vintage of the Dry Creek Vineyard Wilson Ranch dry Chenin Blanc. The 2009 vintage was such an exceptional value with its fresh, crisp taste that I thought it worth the risk to try the 2010. We shall see.

For Thanksgiving, Curt was kind enough to donate his Italian Merlot, the2009 Falesco from Umbria. This is a reasonably-price wine from a consistent producer who has offered solid wines for the past decade; this should be a decent match with turkey. We’ll also have the Gruet Blanc de Noir sparkler from New Mexico, which Wine Spectator rated as a Smart Buy recently and gave it a score of 90. Not bad for $13.

So while I may have been silent recently, there will be plenty to write about very soon!

A southern Rhône producer does it again

I wrote about the 2009 vintage of the Le Pavillon du Château Beauchêne rosé from the Côtes du Rhône with high praise for this juicy wine that packs delicious strawberry on a solid mineral beam with just the right amount of dryness. Well, guess what? The 2010 vintage is another great one from this producer, and is widely available.

The latest vintage is consistent with its fresh strawberry and bracing mineral qualities that give this a clean and fresh finish. Very food friendly, I enjoyed with everything from strongly-flavored soft cheese to pasta with tomato sauce. And it’s also excellent for just plain drinking! And perhaps best of all, you can find it for $10 a bottle!

Another great year for French rosé. I score this with an 8.5 using my scale at the left.

2010 was the year for French rosé

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There are many rosés on the shelf right now from the 2010 vintage, and the ones from the Côtes de Provence are particularly delicious. There’s a wide range of prices, but most are under $20 and there are some delicious finds for less than $10.

One of these great bargains is the 2010 bottling of Domaine Houchart Côtes de Provence rosé. For just $9 you can have this delicious wine so suited for lazy quaffing on a summer afternoon before dinner preparations begin. It is so friendly that you can have whatever you want for an appetizer.

It has a beautiful pale color, a light salmon pink that offers a sumptuous nose of fresh fruit and summer. It is full of juicy flavor with a fabulous finish of fresh strawberry and kiwi. Yet, the mineral quality leaves your palette fresh and clean. More suited for mild cheeses, the label suggests it would go well with sushi, and I bet it would! It’s a delicious blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvèdre. And it comes from one of my favorite areas of France – the southern Rhône and Provence.

I rate this with an 8.5 using my scale at the left.

Are you a rosé drinker? Tell me about your favorites! I’d love to try them.

Young, big and delicious

Recently I went out to dinner at erwin in Chicago with friends Curt and Todd. The special for the night was a French country style chicken, which both Curt and I ordered. Todd ordered the sautéed calf’s liver served with turnips. Both entrees had very flavorful sauces. The chicken thighs also were served atop a bed of green and ripe olives with other herbs, and came with a delicious leek soup.

I was delegated the wine choice, and considering our dinners, I identified three choices, noting I leaned heavily toward a Gigondas I saw on the list. My guidance was followed and we had the Elegantia 2009 Gigondas.

A southern Rhône appellation, Gigondas is like a value Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Normally not as big as a Châteauneuf, Gigondas nonetheless can have great depth and character, and the better ones age rather well too. Better still, you can find some really outstanding Gigondas for $25 or less, while a similarly stellar Châteauneuf-du-Pape will cost you a minimum of $50, mostly like closer to $100 or more. While this was a bit pricy on the menu, the Elegantia retails for under $20.

The Elegantia is not a well-known wine. The label shows no information regarding a house or vintner, which likely means the wine is made through a cooperative. That might indicate to some people lower quality, but I assure you it does not. This wine turned out to be a superb accompaniment for both entrees.

It has a beautiful light and delicate color, almost like a Pinot Noir. The taste is light with subtle mineral and a deliciously long chocolate finish. There’s even a hint of chocolate on the nose with light berry. It was juicy, but not jammy. And the cassis fruit was so delicate it really gave it a fine focus and depth.

I give this a 9 using my scale at the left.

Delightful complexity

I return to my favorite region in France with a Côtes du Rhône that is decently prices at $13. The 2009 Cuveé les Trois Soeurs from Domaine les Grands Bois is a satisfying red with complexity and the fine mineral quality that I’ve come to admire with Rhône wines. Despite the fact my tasting notes match up pretty well with Robert Parker’s, I think he was a bit too generous to rate this wine at 90 points.

What struck me first as I poured the wine was the deep purple color, rich and dark like blackberry. On the nose there was faint vanilla, a subtle boysenberry backed by a denseness that always almost like a barrier to something else beyond. There were earthy notes, and a hint of leather, like tack.

Upon tasting, the firm tannins didn’t overpower the mineral quality or the subtle white chocolate. The fruit was faint, but discernable, served on a slate plate with an herbal dusting that reminded me of gentle spice: white pepper, cinnamon and savory herbs like light sage and thyme.

At $13, this wine certainly drank like a higher priced Cuveé, but as I mentioned, it wasn’t quite a 90-pointer in my mind. It went well with a simple pasta dish served with spicy Italian sausage. For the price, I will likely pick this one up again.

I rate it 8.5 using my scale at the left.

Clos de L’Oratoire des Papes

Man, do I wish I had more of these. A subtle spiciness, yet light, with a true taste of rocky soil, mineral and cold rivers. Fruit was very subtle, currant surrounded with hints of cinnamon, cardamom even. It’s a blend of 80 percent Grenache, 10 percent Syrah, 5 percent Mourvedre and 5 percent Cinsault.

It was served with a roast leg of lamb, white beans and plum tomatoes. Acorn squash seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg. It was a new method of preparing the lamb I was trying. Found the recipe in the Women’s Day Famous French Cookery. The beans are mixed with the plum tomatoes, as well as caramelized onions; a bit of seasoned salt and Rosemary is added. The leg is placed on top of the beans in a roasting pan then slow roasted until medium rare.

From the back label of the wine: “L’Oratoire means ‘Oratory,’ a place of prayer. This simple stone structure in a corner of the vineyard is dedicated to Saint-Marc, patron saint of grape growers and of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.”

I think this was another 10. It was really, really delightful.

A great deal from the Rhône

This will sound absolutely crazy to you, but it’s true: A 90-point Châteauneuf-du-Pape for less than $20! And it’s cellar-worthy for about another 7 years, which ought to do it some good.

It’s the 2006 vintage from Domaine La Roquète, and you can find it for just under $20 at World Market as long as you’re a member there (it’s free). I’ve been accumulating this one like you steadily buy a good stock. But after tasting one, I’m saving the rest for a while.

This one has the fine minerality of any good Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but it’s still a bit wound tight. I think with some modest cellar time this one will be fantastic. Wine Spectator describes it as, “Silky and fresh, with shiso leaf, raspberry and spice bread hints backed by a supple, fine-grained finish.” I get the silkiness and the raspberry, as well as the spice, but as I said, it was a bit tight.

Interestingly, and surprisingly perhaps, the bottle I opened had sediment on its side. So this one will benefit already from decanting.

I’m going to give it an 8.5 using my scale at the left. However, in a year, I fully expect this to be a 9 or 9.5.

A Rhône white worth trying

I still had the empty bottle sitting on a bookshelf, so I thought I’d write a small bit about a white wine from the Rhône, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape white no less.

Astounded you are? You thought that Châteauneuf-du-Pape only made reds? True, the region is dominated by red varietals and production, but a small portion is set aside for white wines, and a Châteauneuf-du-Pape white is something you really ought to treat yourself to if you’ve never had one.

While I don’t recall the specifics of the Clos du Mont-Olivet 2006 I drank (I can’t even remember when it was), I know that I liked it. I’m sure I would score it with at least a 9 (Parker gave it an 87). To give you an idea of how much land is set aside for the white varieties, Clos du Mont-Olivet has 2 hectares devoted to the white grapes out of 28 hectares.

In white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Grenache blanc and Roussanne provides fruitiness and fatness to the blend while Bourboulenc, Clairette and Picpoul add acidity, floral and mineral notes. It has the freshness and bracing acidity of a fine Chablis or white Burgundy, but the floral characteristics really give the Châteauneuf-du-Pape whites a character all their own.

They tend to be pricey considering most are made to be drunk young; a few are cellar-worthy, but most will come with the notation of “drink now.” And at an average of $25 to $30, it’s not often that I will go out and buy one unless I have a specific meal planned around it. Despite the price, however, it is worth going out and picking one up the next time you’re at your favorite wine retailer. Not many carry the white varieties from this appellation, but when you find one, chances are you will be pleasantly surprised.

Sablet

Ah, the Rhône, that region of France from whence my favorite wines come. And a locale in the Southern Rhône that I am finding intriguing is the appellation Côte du Rhône Villages.

One of the villages in this area is Sablet, which interestingly was lucky enough during the Plague to be spared, escaping the disease virtually untouched.

Among the producers there is Domaine de Piaugier, whose Sablet Rouge is a blend of just Grenache and Syrah. The wine has received erratic scores over the years, everywhere from the mid 70s to the mid 80s. Apparently, the producer is better known for its Gigondas, which is regularly of higher quality, according to Parker.

The 2007 was good, but unremarkable in my view. The nose was delicious, but when tasted, there just wasn’t any follow-through. It wasn’t awful at $15, but I probably won’t buy from this producer again.

I rate this with a 6.5 using my scale at the left.

Ain’t got no bone

My friend Curt gave me a call a couple weeks ago to say that he purchased a boneless leg of lamb and he was sure I could do something with it. Stuffing it sounded like a good idea. So I used the rest of the week to think about how to stuff this bit of meat. I found a very simple recipe, although it did require a bit of work.

I took the lamb, spread it out on a cutting board, and trimmed all the excess fat and gristle from it. I then scored it with some half-inch cuts so that the meat would lay flat. I covered it with a plastic bag and then beat on it with a rubber mallet until it was more or less even in thickness. After seasoning it with a bit of salt and pepper, I took fresh spinach and layered the leaves over the lamb. This was then followed with a layer of goat cheese.

I rolled up the meat with the spinach and cheese, tied it, then seared the meat on all sides in a cast iron pan. The lamb was then oven roasted in that pan at 400 degrees until it was rare. I prepared some herb pan-roasted potatoes, but they were overcooked, sadly, and were disappointing. I also prepared a butternut squash and seasoned it with a bit of nutmeg.

The next time I try this recipe, I have some other things in mind. I found a recipe that would have you roll the meat after it is tied in some flour with fennel and thyme. I might add some pine nuts as well to the stuffing.

Anyway, I served the lamb with a Southern Rhone gem, a 2007 Gigondas from Domain Brusset, the Tradition le Grand Montmirail. It’s a deliciously powerful wine that paired stunningly with the lamb (but not like that Brunello, I must admit). This is a relatively inexpensive Gigondas – I picked it up for $21. Delicious blueberry and blackberry with just the right mineral quality.

Overall a very good meal; I just wished I hadn’t screwed up the potatoes.

I rate this wine with a 9 using my scale at the left.

One good leg deserves a stew

Needless to say, after that wonderful leg of lamb in mid-August I prepared with the Brunello di Montalcino, I had some left over. And what better meal to prepare with leftover leg of lamb than lamb stew?

Now, most lamb stew recipes, and the one I selected was no exception, call for some red wine in addition to the beef stock. When cooking with wine, I tend to take a rather extreme position. I can’t remember where I read this, but I recall reading someplace that if you wouldn’t drink a wine, why would you use it for cooking? Grocery stores have plenty of “cooking wine” on the shelves, and isn’t it curious that the “cooking wine” is generally never found in the wine aisle? That’s because these “cooking” wines are not for drinking. Well, if they’re not for drinking, why use them for cooking?

Hence, I always use a wine that I like to drink as a cooking ingredient when a recipe calls for wine.

So I was feeling a bit daring following that wonderful meal with the leg of lamb. I found a lamb stew recipe I wanted to use, and this wild hair of a notion consumed me as to what wine I should use. And what did I select? Yes my fellow oenophiles, I went all out and selected a 2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils, the Girard. I poured two cups of that wine into my stew, and drank the rest while eating what was most definitely a heavenly meal.

I have no regrets over my decision. It was divine. I’ll post the recipe later, as I have another lamb stew post coming up.

I’ll rate this wine a 9.5 based on the scale at the left. The stew I rate with a 10.

Another great French rosé

I recently enjoyed this bright and fresh rosé from the southern Rhône region of Costières de Nîmes with my friend Curt. The 2009 Mas Carlot Tradition had a lively, dry flavor of delicate strawberries with a hint of spice. The blend is 60 percent Grenache, 35 percent Syrah and 5 percent Mourvedre. This 2009 vintage was delightful as an aperitif, which we enjoyed instead of martinis before heading out for dinner at Broadway Cellars in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago.

There are a lot of really good French rosés on the market right now. While I don’t know how much Curt paid for this wine, it’s suggested retail is just $11. Wine Spectator gives it an 89, a rating with which I thoroughly concur. It gets an 8.5 on my rating scale, which you can see on the left side of this blog.