24 Hours of Cote Du Rhone - Part 1

Unfortunately, not 24 hours IN Cote Du Rhone.  I'm still in Manhattan, trying to navigate the post-Sandy city.   There is a huge divide at 40th Street, where downtown is living in apocalyptic darkness and chaos while uptown buzzes about nearly unperturbed. Beyond more crowding in bars from the influx of downtown refugees and some transportation challenges, life hums along in northern Manhattan. As comfortable as I am at my friends' place, the gridlock, stalled subways and gas shortages (read:  no taxis) is starting to wear on me.

(photo courtesy of New York magazine)

I was scheduled to conduct a wine tasting on Saturday and luckily was able to pick up a last-minute job for Friday as well.  The tastings were for Cote Du Rhone wines so I immersed myself in the region for a couple of nights.  Let's just call it vacation in a bottle.

Like any good vacation, you want to prolong your time, so let's linger on the first day.  Friday's tasting showcased 3 wines:

Gallician Prestige Rose Costieres de Nimes 2011
This bright rose had strawberry and cherry on nose and the fruit followed through on the palate with a long, dry finish and a good amount of acidity.  It was a more robust, medium-bodied rose than the pale pink or salmon sippers that appear in everyone's glasses during the summer, making it ideal for the cooler weather.  This one can stand on its own but wouldn't get lost if paired with food.

Cote du Rhone Vidal Fleury 2007
This grenache/syrah/mourvedre blend, a pretty classic Cote Du Rhone composition, had ripe raspberry, strawberry and cherry aromas that lead the way for the same berry juiciness up front on the palate, followed by spicy black pepper, earth and a bit of tobacco.  Like many Cote du Rhones, it was a rather light-bodied red. This guy had quite a bit of acidity and was a bit more astringent than I usually like, but it was still quaffable.

Domaine Galevan Cote du Rhone 2010 
Grenache/mourvedre/carignan - no syrah here! - was a fun comparison to the Vidal Fleury.  It started again with that ripe berry bouquet but unlike the Fleury, it was rounder in the mouth with softer tannins.  There were more pronounced tones of earth and tobacco, but the absence of the spiciness was noticeable.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, so for now, let's just pretend the airline lost my luggage with my camera....