2007 Perrin & Fils Côtes du Rhône Villages

(France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages)

So far on this 2007 Southern Rhone tour out of my cellar, this has been the clear winner. I decanted this and tasted it at various stages over 2 days.

Tight on the nose with the pop-n-pour, so I can see how a number of previous raters went low on this wine. It seemed downright boring at first. Over the next few hours it begins to release a dense blanket of strawberries, blackberries, and leather. The mouthfeel is very dense, like velvet. There is a creaminess that coats the palate and prepares you for a thick layer of jam and pepper, with just a hint of garrigue lingering in the background. It feels very round, with a very smooth transition to a bacon fat and strawberry finish.

90 Points, Buy and Keep, $15.

2007 Saint-Cosme Côtes du Rhône

(France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône)

A little disappointing and basic. Certainly not terrible, but no match for other CDRs.

On the nose, it’s a little tight. Good sour cherry aromas, but smells a little hot. On the attack, this wine bursts onto the palate with sour cherry and cranberry. The fruit on this vintage is pretty incredible. These bright berries persist through the course of the experience, and are punctuated by decent tannins. Toward the tail end there is some green bell pepper that is very pretty. It’s got good acidity, but very few secondary flavors. Overall disappointing, but I may have been expecting too much.

89 Points. Buy and try, $16.

(France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône)

This is really a serious Rhone vintage. Recommended by Jeff Stettner of 33 Wine Bar in St. Louis (@33wine on Twitter). The nose was a little tight to start, but with some vigorous swirling, it opened nicely showing really dense blackberry and cassis jam. This nose smells like it’s coming from a jar of preserves. On the attack, this wine coats your palate with a creaminess and density that’s pretty impressive. After the layer of cream, the black raspberry builds to a nice crescendo. Not a ton of second-tier flavors are coming through right now on this wine. I was looking for the usual black pepper, leather, garrigue combination, but the fruit is singing so loudly that the usual chorus of the Rhone was drowned out a bit. Really delicious stuff. Now I think I’m beginning to understand the hype about 2007 in the Rhone Valley.

92 pts.