All roads lead to Rhone

I've had my usual "wine slump" lately, where nothing tastes terribly good, except for wine that comes in half bottles called "beer".  But as of this week, I'm loving wine again and it's been a tale of Cote du Rhones or CdR.  (These wines are a blend of Grenache and Syrah with Mourvedre occasionally blended in.  The GSM blend came from this region, initially.)  And I've opened four CdR wines in the the last three days.  Do the math.

It all started out with a wine I picked up from the display advertising at the Wine Club where the staff thought this $14 CdR was the best initial wine from a winery they could remember.  So this Wed, I open the 2007 Andre Andrieux CdR Village and it is nice with some fruit.  I'm looking for more S(yrah) and less G(renache).   But after breathing it bit, it softened and had a beautiful silky texture.  Not super complicated, but big violet fruit with a hint of earth and mineral in a medium body with deep purple color.  I thought it might be 50% Syrah due to the fruit intensity, but it was all (ripe) Grenache.   So yummy.  Even my wife liked this CdR.  My score: 92.

Thursday, I finally opened a St Cosme, the 2007 CdR (WS 90, $12).  I have both the 2006 and the 2007 of this mostly Syrah blend, but this was my first try.  Big, deep with ripe fruit.  I thought it could be an Italian wine.  My wife liked this, too.  My score: 90.

Tonight, being Fri, it is another CdR, the Domaine Mourchon 2004 CdR Village (WS 90, $17?).  I have this wine because we biked up/around the mountain from Vaison LaRomain a few years back and ended up at this winery at our most tired point.  The winery and the rest stop there was a gods send.  The wine later scored well at WS 90, so obviously I had to buy this.  Big not-overly ripe dark berry in a medium body.  This tastes like it is mostly Syrah, but it is 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah.  Hmm.  It is opening up and softening up nicely as I type this, picking up some nice spice, forcing me to upgrade the score.  The wife likes it, too.  My score: 91-92.

And I couldn't resist contrasting yet another CdR.   Soon,  I opened the Perrin et Fils 2004 Vacqueyras Les Christian (WS 91).  This is my "reference" CdR for a gravelly Grenache blend (80% G with 20% S).  And it is totally different.  Smells of band-aids and musty gravel by the sea, with red fruit and corresponding intense flavors.  Medium to lean texture.  My wife hates this, but I'm enjoying this alot.  And the contrast with the Mourchon is startling given that these came from the same region.   My score: 91-92.

So from most gravelly/"structured" (aka not big and fruity) to most ripe, we have: 

• Perrin & Fils, 
• Andre Andrieux, 
• Domain Mourchon and then 
• Saint Cosme.  

But the bottom line is this week, all roads have led to happiness.