Recommendation: An EXCELLENT Rhone red.
Winery/Producer: Alain Graillot; Pont de l’Isère, France.
Grape Variety: Rhone blend.
Geographic Region, Appellation: Crozes-Hermitage; Northern Rhone Valley, France.
Vintage: 2013
Price: $31.95
Purchased From: Woodland Hills Wine Company, Woodland Hills, California.
Paired With: Roast pork loin, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts.
Tasting:
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He said: Opened 30-minutes before drinking. Dark purple/garnet color with a lighter rim. Wet leather, ripe raspberry, cherry and wood shavings aromas. Intense, dry, full body vibrant fruit taste that has a smokiness to it from mid-palate to the end. A smooth, dry, slightly spicy finish that’s packed with layers of fruit flavors and ends with a wonderful tart upturn at the end. Simply put it was an EXCELLENT Rhone red that was food friendly and absolutely scrumptious drinking alone after the dinner.
As an “Old World”-“New World” tasting we drank this Crozes-Hermitage and the identically priced Larner Elemental (California Rhone blend) side-by-side and blind. Although there were similarities there was a big enough distinction between the wines that all four of us preferred one over the other…the Crozes-Hermitage was the favorite for all four of us!
She said: Brownish red color, opaque, with fast moving legs. Nice earthy and dark fruit aromas leads to full flavored taste with lots of flavor, dryness, soft tannins and a long luscious finish. It went well with the dinner and was a delicious wine.
Alcohol: 13%
UPC Code: 0 97985 15062 2
Imported by: Paul Bullard Associate; St. Helena, California.
Photo from Lavinia.