Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Tasting - Vidal Fleurie: Cotes du Rhone

Name: Vidal Fleurie - Cotes du Rhone
Variety: Grenache (65%), Syrah (20%), Mourvèdre (10%) some others with Carignan (5%)
Region: Rhone Valley
Country: France
Year: 2009
Price: originally $16 on sale for $10.95

Wine Makers Notes: Brilliant garnet red color. Red fruits and spices on the nose. The mouth reveals rounded tannins (thanks to the stay in the oak barrels), a warm and full-bodied wine with and uncommon and lasting aromatic intensity. The proof that Cotes-du-Rhone can be a serious and elegant wine.


Sniffy Sniff: The aroma I got from this wine was dark berries, a mix of red and black berries.

Slurppy Slurp: This wine packed a punch. It was very dry, spicy and peppery with a long finish. Immediately i had to try it with cheese (parmesan). Again the cheese made a difference. This time it just toned down the punch. It was still very dry and left my mouth with a tingly feel. 

Fun Facts about the aging of the wine:
Long and traditional maceration: 2 weeks with Grenache and 3 weeks with Syrah and Mourvèdre. A lot of "délestage" at the beginning of fermentation. Fermentation with Indigenous yeast.

Controlled temperature for maceration at 30°C.
100% malolactic fermentation.

Aged on lees 70% in tanks and 30% in large barrels (foudres).

Natural clarification and stabilization by settling and one filtration (Cross Flow). Unfined.

Maturation in bottle: at least 3 months before shipment.
All of this information can be found at their website: Vidal-Fleury


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