We hoped for more from this Rhône blend

Several months ago, some friends served us a tasty, interesting French wine. Your Two Wine Nuts were very enthusiastic about it and quickly jotted down the label information. We were thrilled to find the wine available at Cost Plus World Market, so we snatched up a couple bottles at the very happy price of $7.99. Weirdest thing -- it hasn't been nearly as good the second or third times.

The 2004 Corbieres Les Deux Rives is a blend of four red Rhône varietals: Grenache (40%), Syrah (30%), Mourvedre (20%), and Carignan (10%). We remember it as being wonderfully earthy with lots of berry fruit. What we have tasted in both bottles we brought home has been lighter and less complex. Surprisingly, the nose is mostly alcohol and unripe blackberries. Sort of a bitter fruity smell. We feared our first bottle was corked (see February 17 post), so we waited until we had the second bottle before taking notes. Either both bottles were corked, or this is just how this wine smells.

As for the taste, we did get some of the expected earthiness as well as some smoke and cigar. But its lightness and somewhat short finish surprised us. Perhaps if we had not had the first bottle at the friends' house, we would be more excited about this wine. And perhaps the lively conversation, good food, and happy times spent with those friends added flavor to the wine that night (a very real possibility since wine is such a sensory experience).

So our recommendation is, if you are looking to try a Rhône blend without breaking the bank, give this one a shot for $7.99. It's not bad; it's just not what we remember it being.

An overpriced French wine a la Costco

A number of years ago, your Two Wine Nuts read a book written by guy totally into French wines (Kermit Lynch’s “Adventures on the Wine Route”). It was a great introduction to the seduction of French wines but honestly, it didn’t make buying French wines any less mystifying. However, one thing we did learn was that Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are generally considered very good.

A brief explanation about Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In Europe, wines are named for the area or region that the wine is made in, as opposed to the American tradition of naming a wine for the grape the wine is made from (Burgundy – a place – versus Chardonnay – a grape). There is an area in southern France called Châteauneuf. Long ago, before Vatican City, Popes lived in a town called Avignon, in the Châteauneuf area. This area produced wine, some especially for the Pope. Eventually, the wine became known as Châteauneuf-du-Pape – Châteauneuf wine for the Pope. Referring to our last post (July 12), Châteauneuf-du-Pape is also considered a Rhône style wine since Châteauneuf is in the Rhône region of France.

This is why your Two Wine Nuts focus more on American wines. SO much easier to understand the history and labeling!

We bring this all up because a few days ago while shopping in Costco, we spotted a Costco branded Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine for $19.99 and were too curious not to buy it. Specifically, it was a 2005 Kirkland Signature Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee de Nalys. We opened it tonight to enjoy with some grilled pork chops. Bottom line: not worth the 20 bucks.

This red wine had just the slightest hint of brown color, sort of a maroon red instead of a purple red. The aroma (or nose) was very definitely strawberry jam. One Wine Nut also picked up a grape smell. With so much fruitiness in the nose, we weren’t sure what to expect from the taste. True to Rhône form, the flavor was much more earthy than fruity. Actually, the most distinct flavor was tannins. Tannin is a component of plants. Red wine gets its red color from being in contact with the skins of the grapes. The skins, as well as the seeds and stems, have tannin in them. So, red wine very typically has tannin in it. Another way to get tannin in wine is via the oak barrels. Either way, the tell-tale sign of tannin is a puckery, astringent feeling in the mouth upon sipping a wine. This Kirkland Châteauneuf-du-Pape had lots of tannin because our mouths felt like we had sucked on a cotton ball soaked in facial toner (you gals out there know what this is). It’s not as bad as it sounds, but as a sipping wine, this one needed food. When we paired the wine with our pork chops, fruit suddenly appeared. However, it didn’t last very long. The wine did get increasingly easy to drink over the course of the meal, but this was largely due to the moderately high 14.7% alcohol content.

All in all, this Costco offering was interesting to taste but not at all worth the $19.99. If you are interested in trying a Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine, we instead recommend visiting your local wine shop and asking for recommendations. A good one will definitely be worth $20; this one wasn’t.

A Tasty Rhône Varietal

One of our best finds recently was Tom, the Wine Steward at a local grocery store. He’s a retired wine guy who has great love and passion for the collection he’s assembled in the corner of a nearby QFC. You just never know where you are going to find great wines and great knowledge.

On Tom’s recommendation, we bought a bottle of a 2005 Syncline Mourvedre. We had had Mourvedres before but knew nothing about Syncline. It turns out Syncline is a winery in eastern Washington state, an area increasingly known for growing great warm-weather grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay.

Mourvedre is a type of red grape grown most popularly in the Rhône region of France. Because it originates from this area, it is called a “Rhône style” wine or a “Rhône varietal." Other Rhône varietals include Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan among the reds, and Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne among the whites. Unlike in the United States where wine is named by its grape, wines in France are referred to by the area in which the grapes are grown. So, you might drink a Burgundy, a Bordeaux, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, or a Côte-Rôtie…all places in France that make wine. It would be like saying “I think a Napa would go well with this steak.” Or “What Willamette Valleys do you have?” Honestly, reading a French wine label can be rather confusing since it’s often hard to figure out what the grape is versus the region versus the maker. We’re still learning how to do this. When we get better at it, we’ll add a post.

In the meantime, the state-side Syncline Mourvedre was quite lovely and almost too easy to drink. It was deep, dark purple in color and had a subtle yet earthy nose. Rhône style wines, if one were to make a huge generalization, are typically much more earthy and mineraly and less fruity and flowery. The Syncline followed suit, although its taste was much less pronounced than other Mourvedres we have had. The first time we tried a Mourvedre, we were stunned that it smelled like a two-mile-away skunk – and this was a GOOD thing! That first Mourvedre also tasted sort of barnyard-y and soil-y – again, surprisingly good things. To compare to better known wines, the Syncline Mourvedre was stronger than a Merlot. And it had the weight and body of a Cabernet Sauvignon without the typical dark fruitiness of a Cab. We had lasagna with the Syncline and it went quite nicely.

We have no idea how easy it would be to find the 2005 Syncline Mourvedre outside the local QFC or the winery itself. According to their website, Syncline distributes to “select wine stores” in a number of states. At $19.99, the 2005 Mourvedre was perhaps a touch over-priced. We would have been more excited at about $15. Nevertheless, we are likely to include Syncline on a future wine trip to Eastern Washington. And, if you have never tried a Mourvedre and find one in a local wine store or World Market, we would encourage you to give it a try. You just might be surprised how nice a barnyard can taste!

For more info about Rhône varietals, check out Rhône Rangers.