On Fri, 20 May 2005 17:19:45 +0200, Lionel
wrote:
dave weil a écrit :
On Thu, 19 May 2005 18:15:58 -0700, "Schizoid Man"
wrote:
"Margaret von B." wrote in message
Currenly I'm enjoying a Rancho Zabaco Dry Creek Valley 2000 Reserve
Zinfandel. As a snack I have real swedish ginger snaps with Gorgonzola and
Cognag seared pears. I'm listening to Andrea Bocelli through my Grado RS-1
headphones trying to figure out why I like him so much.
Rancho Zabaco's decent and unspectacular. A couple of I had gone up to
Sonoma with some clients on an off-site and visited a vineyard called Kunde.
Their zin was simply astonishing. I've never seen it in liquor stores or at
a wine merchant. However, wine.com do carry it for $13 a bottle.
I like their Sauvignon Blanc better than I like their Zin. If you want
an astonishing Zin, you should try the Chateau Potelle VGS. It'll cost
you, but it's worth it. Also, for great examples of the varietals,
Ridge is always a good choice, even in lesser years and vineyards. Of
course, they ain't cheap either. Wild Horse does a really tasty Zin,
and Ravenswood always has a nice affordable bottle with plenty of
spice.
BTW, Shiraz is simply the Aussies' name for Syrah. It's actually more
"correct", since it's the place name for the presumed origin of the
grape, which was in Persia. If you want a particularly tasty bottle of
Australian Shiraz, try Two Hands. It's not as spicy as most of the
Aussies, but it's *really* juicy and lush. If it were any more lush,
it'd be treachly, but it's just about perfect (at least the 2001 was).
It is NOT a "perfect" example of Australian Shiraz though, since it's
WAY too jammy. Also, if you want a good Rhone blend from California,
you can't go wrong with Ravenswood Icon, which is the classic blend of
Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache. Yummy.
Hard to beat Cave Cooperative de Tain L'Hermitage in Cornas for a
really good reasonably priced version of a nice Rhone though. If you
want to find out the difference between classic examples of French vs
Australian Syrah/Shirazes (and there ARE some pretty big differences),
pop for a nice Cote Rotie (most, if not all are 100% Syrahs)
All the St Joseph, Côtes Roties, Hermitages Condrieu are
usually 100% Syrah cultivated in terrace (which means about
98% of manual vendanges).
Same thing I said about Cotes Roties, with the addition of a correct
spelling g.
The Grenache appears only in the south of Valence (about
30-40 km). This corresponds in a major geological change and
so to a drastic difference in culture, prune...
And yet, it's still a Rhone varietal. Is this geographic distinction a
subtle diss of Chateauneuf-du-Pape? I guess that the answer is
contained in the next passage, which I have split up.
Now the wine
is mixture (Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinseault,
Clairette... in different proportion but usually with a
dominance of Grenache)
And yet, the trio that I cited is a classic blend. Of course, then
there's the mixed bag of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It's similar to the idea
that CabSauv/Merlot/CabFranc/Petit Verdot is the classic blend of
Bordeaux, but you'll also find some vintners thowing Malbec into the
mix. It's just that there are many more permitted varietals in the
Rhone, and so, you can find quite a few combinations. Still, that trio
is known for being a great combination of grapes.
From this point the best is often close to the passable and
the mediocre with some gem : Cornas, Gigondas and some
fantastic Villages.
Well, there's no denying that the Southern Rhone generally offers a
lighter style than the steep slopes of the North. Yes, one should
choose a bit more carefully, although I'd note that there are plenty
of mediocre Cotes du Rhones. And let's not forget that Cornas is
actually NORTH of Valence, if only barely.
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