Post date: Nov 3, 2009 12:57:44 AM
It is not that often that wine critics use phrases like "truly historic and profoundly great vintage". But when Bob Parker of the Wine Advocate starts describing the 2007 wines of the Southern Rhone I get excited. When he says, "The 2007s are just hitting retailers’ shelves, but they will disappear quickly. In three decades of visiting Châteauneuf du Pape, I have never seen so many domaines, even in the worst economic recession of modern times, that are completely sold out of 2007s." I start to rush to my favorite wine shop.
I love vintages like 2007 in the Southern Rhone because even the mediocre vineyards produce wines that are memorable. It turns into a frugal wine lovers orgy of value. Just about everywhere you look there is another reasonably priced 90 point + wine. I am going to have a wonderful time shopping for our next wine tasting.
On December 12th we will contrast the wines of the Southern Rhone with their California cousins, "The Rhone Rangers". At our wine and beer tasting last July, the consensus was the Cline version of a Rhone wine, Cashmere, was the clear favorite. We'll have to see if California is up to the challenge of beating an epic year in the Rhone river valley.
Please save the date. This is gonna be great.
Cheers,
Erik