Apparently I've been delving into the Rhone varietals lately, and here is yet another one. The wine was a bottle of Chateau de Nages, Appellation Costieres de Nimes Controlee, Reserve 2005 White Rhone Wine. The blend was 60% Grenache and 40% Roussanne. The wine weighed in at 14.5% alcohol by volume (high for a white!), had a plastic cork and cost me $7.99 at Total Wine.On the nose I found honey and apricot and I would call the overall aroma sweet. Which oddly contrasted with the flavor in the mouth with I would overall describe as spicy. Go figure. I found lemons and oranges in the mouth and the wine tasted slightly oaked, but I can't find any information on what kind of fermentation this bottle went through.
Overall, my impression was "eh." The wine was NMS.
Posts
I like the wide variety of wine you write about! If you enjoy the Rhone varietals, you should try to get your hands on some of the wines from either Mt. Aukum winery or Cedarville of the Fair Play area in El Dorado AVA. I'm not a rep from the area, but I do like their wines. Rhone varietals do well in the Sierra foothills.
I don't know if your local stores carry either of these wineries but if you get a chance to try one, please let us know what you think!
7/24/07, 10:56 AM
Sounds like you had a similarly disappointing Rhone varietal experience as we did last week...but at least you only paid $8 (compared to our $60).
7/24/07, 6:04 PM
Hey Sonadora,
JB has a valid point; however, Total Wine claims to fully refund any bottle you are not satisfied with. I’m always curious how many people return bottles. I have never returned any, but sure have had the urge.
As to the type of fermentation and aging, don’t you wish every winery had a ~cheat sheet~ like Twisted Oak – That is so cool! Tells you everything you need to know after you finish guessing (lol)
Have a great week.
Dezel
7/24/07, 6:44 PM
I will keep my eyes open Orion, I haven't heard of either of those wineries.
Jb, yep, this one was disappointing!
Thanks for the tip Dezel! I had no idea Total Wine did that! Maybe I will get up the nerve to return a bottle next time I'm not satisfied.
7/24/07, 8:32 PM
I can't say enough good things about La Vielle Ferme, a lovely Rhone blanc for about $7-8. Just bought a bottle for tomorrow night. Give it a go if you can find it!
Or an American version? Rosenblum's Chateau la Paws Cote du Bone Blanc $12-14
7/24/07, 8:48 PM
I've heard about the Rosenblum Rhone (WineWaves: http://volunteer.blogs.com/winewaves/2005/11/rosenblum_cella.html & Good Wine Under $20 http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/2007/02/party-wines.html ) and have been wanting to try it. I'll have to get one soon!
7/25/07, 10:58 AM
I will confess that this is a wine I have liked in the past, but I can see where you are coming from - it needs a flavourful fish to be paired with - not a good sipping wine. Interesting suggestion above re the La Vielle Ferme - I would recommend that as well.
7/25/07, 8:42 PM
Mt Aukum is a great winery north of us (with a killer view BTW) and is another example of how Mediterranean varietals do well in the foothills.
7/26/07, 3:22 AM
Woah, lots of comments! Thanks for all the input everyone, I will certainly be attempting to check out your suggestions!
8/6/07, 8:25 PM
Don't feel bad if white Rhone grapes aren't your thing. After repeated attempts to convince myself to appreciate Marsanne & Rousanne for the last 5 years I still just don't get it. Apparently, along with Burgundy appreciation, a love of white Rhones is the mark of the wine cognoscenti, but it just escapes me. Unless it's fancy viognier or dessert wine that is, and then it's just fine.
8/14/07, 11:13 AM
Hey GP-Welcome! Just saw your note down here, thanks for commenting. There are just some varietals that can't work for everyone. I think this may have been one of those for me. Hope you'll stop by again!
8/18/07, 10:19 PM