Over the past several years, Domaine Sainte-Anne, located in Saint-Gervais in the southern Rhône valley, has become one of our favorite producers. Their regular Côtes-du-Rhône is our #1 go-to everyday red wine, and going up from there, the wines just get better. We’re always up for trying something we haven’t had from the Steinmaier family’s operation, and so it was that we picked this up selection during a recent visit to one of our friendly neighborhood Plum Markets. We hadn’t tried this particular bottling since 2008, and based on our recent tasting of the regular Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, I had the feeling that it might be another tannic beast. It is all that and them some; here’s my Rhône-down on what I found whilst sampling a few glasses and taking in a solid 3-2 Detroit Red Wings victory over the Nashville Predators last Saturday evening.

2011 Domaine Sainte-Anne Rouge Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Notre-Dame des Cellettes, 14.5% alc., $18.99: Deep and dark in both color and flavor profile, with a huge core of black fruit and lots of earth and tar. Seriously tannic, with a pretty good acidic bite to boot. This has all the goods, it just needs LOTS of time in the cellar; I wouldn’t even consider opening another for at least five years, and waiting a decade might be an even better option. Having said that, Kim said the last two glasses were pretty good the next day, so it had opened, and maybe you just need to decant this for several hours if you want to try it now! 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre, aged in cement tanks after a relatively short maceration period of 8-15 days. Find this wine

Imported by AHD Vintners, Warren, MI

Reporting from Day-twah,

Bastardo

Related posts:

1. Hey Mabel, Wine Labels from the Good Ol’ Days!
2. Red Wings and Red Rhônes: 2007 Domaine Sainte-Anne Côtes-du-Rhône Villages
3. Red Wings and Red Rhônes 2013 ~ Playoffs, Baby!!!
4. Good stuff