Sunday, January 23, 2011

A relatively unknown Rhone red, 2009 Domaine Mas Du Bouquet

     A new year brings resolutions, most of which I have already broken, and new opportunities. The idea of writing this blog has been discussed ad nauseum by my merry band of winos. So the concept was hatched to write about what we find for great wine deals around town. They may not all be steals, some may be bad, but they will all be fun.
     
     So I wander the aisles of my local wine store looking for something interesting. I would really like my first review to be a “steal” so I am looking for lesser-known regions that produce great grapes. I have found over the years that there are so many relatively unknown viticultural regions making great wine, and even better, they are very reasonably priced. So I am starting off with a 2009 DOMAINE MAS DU BOUQUET from VACQUEYRAS. Priced at $14.99 it is right in my wheelhouse. I am willing to spend money on great wines that I tend to cellar and drink on special occasions. Today is not one of those occasions. 200 mother f’n 9, an incredible year for most of France, was no different in the southern Rhone valley. I want to take a minute to point out that VACQUEYRAS is a very up-and-coming region, making wines similar in style to the Chateauneuf Du Pape or Cotes du Rhone. They are predominantly Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blends that show wonderful dust, earth and garrigue. This is a go to region for me when looking for the French wine feel without the typical French wine price tag. Is that enough background? I hope so, because it is on to my tasting notes.

     I opened the admittedly young bottle expecting it to need decanting. It didn’t. The wine proved to be drinkable right away and improved greatly over the 2 hours I enjoyed it. It had a dark amber color, hints of the brickish / brownishness that one would expect from an old world wine. Dusty cherry nose with hints of earth and ripeness. Very slow syrupy legs are a dead giveaway of high alcohol (14.5% abv) but I never noticed any heat on the nose or palate. In fact, I was really impressed by how well integrated the alcohol was in such a young wine, never obvious or imposing. First thing I noticed on the palate, Fruit Punch. Try finding that on the aroma wheel. This is not, however, a sweet wine by any means. This red  is quite dry with powerful structure. It showed impressive concentration and a finish that lasted minutes and evolved into interesting complexity. The finish had tons of fruit and a bit of garrigue. Garrigue is the specific earthiness one finds in Rhone. Reticent of herbs du Provence, earthiness and lavender this wine is an excellent example of the term.  2009 produced wonderfully concentrated wines in Rhone. The perfect storm of climate and weather makes this wine seem very new world with it powerful fruit forwardness. I would drink this now and over the next 5 years.

     Conclusions? Yes, this was defiantly a steal at this price. I have spent scads more on bottles I didn’t enjoy nearly as much. This region is going to continue to become more well known.. I have the feeling wines like this, and really all the 09 French wines, will appreciate in value. As such, I would recommend picking up plenty of this crowd pleasing old world red.  

     Please respond with comments and feedback. I would love to know if you also enjoyed this wine and how much you will typically spend on a bottle to be imbibed the very same day. Your feedback will allow me to tailor my tasting and writing to all of you.

Cheers,
E

2 comments:

  1. Very nice... I hear that 2007 is going to be a HUGE vintage for Napa cabs. Would love to hear more about it on your blog. ASA

    ReplyDelete
  2. 2007 is fantastic. They show great concentration. I will definitely get to it

    ReplyDelete