John Szabo
The Southern Rhône Valley & Kosher Wines
The main feature this week is the Southern Rhône Valley, that region of France that conjures up images of old stone farmhouses and stands of Mediterranean pines and slow-moving locals in berets. The near-constant blowing of the Mistral picks up the scent of wild Mediterranean herbs like lavender, thyme, bay and rosemary, and perfumes the air like an inner sanctuary of a five-star spa. The landscape is bathed in a pure and intense sunlight that no matter the time of day, seems to casts off a glow of pastel shades of ocher, soft blue and moss green. Hillocks roll gently down to the sea and vines grow amongst scattered round stones that were once carried by the meanderings of the mighty Rhône River. The Popes of Avignon made their summer home here and drank the local wine, and the Papal seal, two keys to the gates of St. Peter’s crossed, still adorns the bottles from the Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
The southern Rhône has long been considered a source of great value country wines from France, and this is still largely true despite the more elevated prices of a handful of more famous appellations. The general style is for soft, open knit, generously proportioned wines with ripe and even baked red fruit flavours derived from Grenache, usually the dominant grape variety.
Yet I noted an alarming trend in this release towards overripe and overly alcoholic monsters, with a number of wines tipping the scales at 15%+. It’s always been hot in the Rhône Valley and ripeness has rarely been an issue, so I don’t think the style trend can be dismissed as a side effect of global warming. Much more likely is that a new belief has been instilled in producers that there’s more perceived value in harvesting later and making wines of gargantuan proportions. And the belief is not misguided, it seems, judging by the big scores from influential critics around the world included in the Vintages release magazine for some of these wines. That’s not to say that they’re all disproportioned. My top-rated wines showed plenty of ripeness to be sure, but balanced by acidity and tannins, not just alcohol and wood. Read the tasting notes to get the full picture of each wine’s style.
The top buys includes a couple of well-priced examples from the southern Rhône, and there’s also good representation from Spain and Italy as well as a stunning Riesling from Germany and an inexpensive but very tasty merlot from Mendoza.
Kosher wine is other theme of this release. Huge strides have been made in recent years in this category, and there are thankfully many good examples made around the world to choose from. It’s not all Manischewitz, of course. I likely don’t need to point out that neither is all kosher wine from Israel nor all Israeli wine kosher. The other important distinction is between straight kosher and mevushal kosher; the former follows strict rabbinical production procedures that exceed the scope of this intro, while the latter takes it a step further and involves pasteurization. With modern techniques of super-rapid, flash heating, not all mevushal wines come across as totally baked. Just read David Lawrason’s review of the Backsberg Chardonnay from South Africa for proof of this. I’ve listed two 90 point wines below that represent simply excellent wine, and they also happen to be kosher.
Top Ten Smart Buys:
1. 2007 DOMDECHANT WERNER’SCHES RIESLING KABINETT Hochheimer Hölle 91pts $19.95 ***
2. 2006 DOMAINE SAINT-PIERRE VACQUEYRAS AC 91pts $25.95 **1/2
3. 2007 CELLER PIÑOL SENORA DEL PORTAL ROBLE DO Terra Alta 90pts $20.95
4. 2008 TERRES SECRETES CROIX DE MONCEAU ST-VÉRAN AC 90pts $21.95
5. 2007 BANFI CENTINE IGT Toscana 89pts $16.95 ***
6. 2008 AGNUSDEI ALBARIÑO DO Rías Baixas 89pts $17.95 ***
7. 2008 MASSERIA ALTEMURA FIANO IGT Fiano Salento 88pts $13.95 ***
8. 2007 TERRES D’AVIGNON LES CARDINALICES GRANDE RÉSERVE CÔTES DU RHÔNE AC 88pts $14.95 ***
9. 2007 LA PIEVE CHIANTI DOCG 88pts $15.95 ***
10. 2007 CRISTOBAL 1492 OAK RESERVE MERLOT Mendoza 87pts $12.95 ***
Top Kosher Wines:
1. 2009 BACKSBERG CHARDONNAY WO Paarl, Mevushal 90pts $16.95
2. 2007 GALIL MOUNTAIN SHIRAZ/CABERNET SAUVIGNON Upper Galilee 90pts $27.95
To see all of my reviews click here.
Cheers,
John Szabo, MS
Filed under: Wine, "Top Picks", "Top Values", First In Line, John Szabo, Vintages, Vintages Preview
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