Our friends at Wines of Distinction held a trade tasting last week focused primarily on their portfolio of wines from the Southern Rhône, with particular emphasis on the stellar 2007 vintage. Most of the wines were from the J et R Selections book, which has long been a favorite of ours. There were a few from Hand Picked Selections as well, another importer that we’re quite fond of.  The tasting was held at the Oak City Grille in Royal Oak, which provided a cozy setting and a tasty spread of victuals to go with the wine selections. As Kim and I entered, we were greeted with a glass of bubbly to boot up our palates and we were off to tasting. Because of the crowd and the number of wines presented, my notes are necessarily of the very brief “snapshot” variety.

2008 Domaine Thibert Crémant de Bourgogne Brut, $21.00: Medium colored, with a lazy bead and moderately ripe stony apple flavors of medium intensity at best; pleasant enough, but needs to be well chilled to mask its deficiencies, and this one wasn’t. Find this wine

There were four whites to try before we got to the reds, and while all were quite enjoyable, one stood out from the others:

2007 Domaine de L’Oratoire St. Martin Cairanne Côtes du Rhône Villages Haut-Coustias Blanc, $29.49: Creamy texture, with creamy apple and pear flavors; nice. Find this wine

2008 Domaine du Grand Tinel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, $32.49: Dry, moderately ripe creamy white tree fruit shaded with mineral. Find this wine

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2008 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, $36.49: Slightly creamy, with nice anise, apple, pear and mineral flavors. Find this wine

2007 Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape du Pape Cuvee Reservee Blanc, $48.49: Intense mineral, peach, pear and anise; plenty of everything you could ever want from white Chateauneuf, which should come as no surprise, given the producer, and it has the stuffing to age well for at least 3-5 years. Find this wine

And then it was into the reds, starting with three from Hand Picked Selections:

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2007 Château La Tour de Béraud Costières-de-Nîmes Rouge, $11.49: Fairly ripe berry, cherry and plum, shaded with earth and animal. Drink now. Find this wine

2007 Terre de Mistral Côtes du Rhône, $11.99: Earth, mineral, plum and berry; slightly creamy and very smooth. Find this wine

2007 Les Vignerons d’Estezargues Cuvee de Galets, $12.49: Slightly creamy berry, cherry and plum. Like the previous two, this is a wine to drink now, rather than to put down for an extended period, and when I commented to Kim that they were more fruit forward than the ones that followed, she agreed, characterizing them as “very cherry stick,” an apt descriptor. Find this wine

From there, it was on to the reds from J et R:

2007 Domaine de l’Espigouette Côtes du Rhône Vieilles Vignes, $12.49: Rich, earthy mineral, plum and berry. Find this wine

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2007 Domaine de l’Espigouette Plan de Dieu, $17.49: Smooth, creamy cherry berry with subtle earth and mineral. Find this wine

In the past, the wines of Domaine des Amouriers have been a little hit-and-miss for me, and these three held true to that form.

2007 Domaine des Amouriers Vin de Pays Suzanne, $9.99: Nice enough, if a step down in intensity from the previous three, with an earthy plum and mineral personality. Find this wine

2007 Domaine des Amouriers Vacqueyras Signature, $22.49: Dry and plain; not bad really, just nothing here to distinguish it. Find this wine

2007 Domaine Des Amouriers Vacqueyras Les Genestes, $26.99: The winner of the three, with nice mineral, earthy, plum and berry flavors and aromas and good Vacqueyras character. Find this wine

2007 Domaine de l’Espigouette Vacqueyras, $21.00: Cream, plum, berry and cherry character; Kim found it a bit hot. Find this wine

Next came a classic model from one of our favorite Gigondas houses:

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2007 Le Mas des Collines Gigondas, $23.99: Earth, iron, anise, plum and berry, with big structure to age for two decades or longer. Find this wine

Château de Montmirail is another producer whose wines we’ve really come to appreciate over the last several years:

2007 Château de Montmirail Vacqueyras Cuvée de l’Ermite, $21.49: Yes! Classic, and quite approachable, with earth, plum and berry character. Find this wine

2007 Château de Montmirail Gigondas Cuvée de Beauchamp, $25.99: Funky, earthy dark plum and berry; yum! Find this wine

From yet another producer whose wares are always welcome at Adams, Heritier & Associates:

2007 Domaine de L’Oratoire St. Martin Cairanne Côtes du Rhône Villages Réserve des Seigneurs, $22.49: Earth, anise and plum; smooth. Find this wine

2007 Domaine de L’Oratoire St. Martin Cairanne Cotes du Rhone Villages Cuvée Prestige, $29.49: Barnyard, earth, dark plum and berry; funkiest so far and I love it! Find this wine

Now it was time to sidle over to the table of heavy hitters from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, ably manned by J et R honcho Dan Farley, who started us with a relatively recent addition to their portfolio, one that we’ve quite enjoyed previously:

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2007 Domaine du Grand Tinel Châteauneuf-du-Pape, $35.00: Earthy, yet smooth in the mouth, with a solid core of dark plum and berry. Find this wine

2007 Domaine du Grand Tinel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Alexis Establet, $42.99: As earthy as the regular CdP, but with a richer core of softer fruit. Find this wine

2007 Domaine du Grand Tinel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Heres, $70.00: Nice and friendly; not too earthy, just nice plum and berry with a hint of anise. Find this wine

Finally came selections from two of our very favorite producers on the planet, starting with a couple from Jean-Paul Versino:

2007 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape, $39.49: Classic Boursan in every way; deep, dark and mysterious, with a long life ahead of it. Find this wine

2007 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée des Felix, $70.00: A lovely balance of earth, iron, black fruit and underbrush, structured for the long haul. Find this wine

And last, but by no means least, a mini-vertical from Domaine du Pegau; my only complaint about these three is the obvious one, the price.

2005 Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Reservee, $81.99: Classic Pegau, and in a surprisingly nice place right now for a 5-year old CdP. Find this wine

2006 Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Reservee, $81.99: Laurence Feraud calls this “the most Burgundian wine I’ve ever made,” and that is abundantly evident when you taste it; just lovely. Find this wine

2007 Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Reservee, $81.99: Big bones, with earth, iron and black fruit; a true classic. Find this wine

It was yet another excellent tasting put on by Wines of Distinction, the kind we’ve come to expect from these fine folks. Many thanks to Jack Bourget, Dan Farley, Michael Korn and Judie Murdock, and thanks also to the management and staff of the Oak City Grille for their fine food and kind hospitality.

Reporting from Day-twah,

geo t.

Related posts:

1. Wines of Distinction from J et R & Hand Picked Selections
2. 2008 Domaine La Garrigue Côtes-du-Rhône Cuvée Romaine
3. Available at Your Friendly Local Retailer~Cloverleaf Fine Wines
4. Red Wings & Red Rhônes: 2007 La Vieille Ferme Côtes du Ventoux Rouge
5. 2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge

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