Friday May 4th - Sunday May 6th
The Wines Will Be Available to Taste All Weekend Long!
Featuring:
1997 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle
2009 Renee Rostaing Ampodium
2009 Domaine La Garrigue "Cuvee Hostellerie"
2010 Domaine La Garrigue "Cuvee Romaine"
2010 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages
2005 La Peira en Damaisela
2010 Puech Haut "Cuvee Prestige"
2009 Domaine de la Janasse "Terre D'Argile"
2009 Domaine Charvin "Le Poutet"
Value is such a subjective notion. I suppose there are many such terms in wine, terms too subjective to define. Quality is another. My quality may not be your quality; my lovely, elegant wine might be your dull, boring wine. Your powerful, intense wine (I’m looking at you, Mr. Parker) might seem overwrought, over-extracted and out of balance to me.
But none of this is pre-ordained, and none of it is universally true. I’m no relativist; there are morals that are universal, even if some cultures have believed that women’s rights are wrong. Those cultures are wrong, period. But wine isn’t the same as civil rights. It’s more like art: it’s about taste, quite literally. So we should all never be expected to think the same wines are great, and as a result, we will never all agree about the greatest wine values in the world.
Yes, but...
Yes, but can you really not see that the Rhone Valley has made utterly delicious wines in the last several decades, and that those wines are cheap in comparison to utterly delicious wines from other places? Perhaps you can’t. Perhaps you believe that I was sincere in maintaining above that wine is subjective. Yes, but.
As a judge in many different wine competitions, I believe that there is nothing objective about wine evaluation; we all find the wines we like, and those wines adhere to a personal notion about wine that is based upon unique, physical responses to flavors and aromas. We like what we like because our bodies tell us to do so. We will never all agree because our bodies are different and so we are receiving differing stimuli when we smell and taste a glass of wine.
Yes, but. A good judge ascertains (as best he or she can) what style of wine is in front of them – in other words, I might not like this wine, but this wine wasn’t made for me to like it; it was made for someone else. So the idea is: if you’re a good judge of wine, you ask yourself what sort of wine is this supposed to be? And as an example of said wine, is it a good example?
You do what you can: the best judges have no axe to grind, stylistically speaking. A good wine judge says things like: I don’t like oaky Chardonnays, but as oaky Chardonnays go, this is a damned good version. I can’t make any great claims to veracity in this, but I hope I am sometimes capable of that. And so when I say to you that the Rhone Valley has offered the best values in French wine for decades and that the Rhone has done so especially in this past decade, I hope you will believe me.
Yes, but…you may say, so I beg you to taste these wines and judge for yourself. That is the merit of Winestore. (among other assets); you can often taste for yourself. In truth, you should have always done so (people like me and Parker be damned) and you should be doing it this weekend.
Somebody loves these wines and others might disagree; it’s up to you, dammit:
1997 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle – one of the greatest vineyards on the planet that some say is under performing right now and others argue is simply in need of more time. Hmm. I’m still buying it but I’m not sure.
2009 Renee Rostaing Ampodium – Rostaing kicks ass, period.
2009 Domaine La Garrigue "Cuvee Hostellerie" – these guys make amazing Grenache based wines: they are not rustic but they are nonetheless capable of showing earth elements and a sense of history and place.
2010 Domaine la Garrigue "Cuvee Romaine" – see above :)
2010 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages – yes, the Perrins make successful commercial wines but since when is that a sin? And 2010 is pretty amazing as Rhone vintages go.
2005 La Peira en Damaisela – Universal acclaim for this Languedoc producer, but think Rhone intensity and structure.
2010 Puech Haut "Cuvee Prestige" - rocking new wine from Eric Solomon
2009 Domaine de la Janasse "Terre D'Argile" – remarkable, focused, brilliant wine year after year
2009 Domaine Charvin "Le Poutet" – it seems like everyone loves Charvin: guys like me, that want gentler wine, and guys with big, important names, who want big, important wine.
Happy tasting and we hope to see you this weekend!
Cheers,
Doug Frost MS MW
Master Sommelier & Master of Wine
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