Wine of the Week: Vidal-Fleury Côtes du Rhône 2009...

Wine Lovers Tip - Great Christmas Table Wine for the Holiday Season

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Here's a great bottle for the holidays and your Christmas table - or pull a surprise at dinner with friends. It's a surprising Côtes du Rhône from the excellent 2009 vintage - a warm, generous, spicy blend of grenache, syrah, mourvèdre and carignan. It would work brilliant with roasts, beef stews, hearty bean dishes like cassoulet and cheese. 

It's normally sells for around £10-11 in the UK and Europe. On the Internet it sells for $8 to $10 in the USA.  Here is what people around the web think about this wine.


"Garnet color running to pink at the very edges, light body in the glass. Hits the nose with dark cherry, cola, then earthy, smokey notes. On the palate there's dark fruit, bacon, black pepper. Surprisingly long finish (contrary to earlier tasting notes. Agree with others that this is not a complex, daring, or evolving wine; but it is a fantastic qpr and a solid Tuesday night and food friendly wine with a lot more interest than other things available for $7 -- or twice that."


"The 2007 vintage in Southern France was wonderful. Here is what Robert M. Parker (Wine Advocate Issue 179) said about it, “Throughout the southern Rhône, 2007 is the greatest vintage I have tasted in my thirty years working in that region. I think of 2007 as a hypothetical blend of an opulent, powerful, sumptuous year such as 1990, and a cooler draught vintage such as 2001. 


The cool weather and the remarkable three weeks of Mistral in September that concentrated the grapes without any spikes of high heat appears to have given the 2007s an aromatic dimension and freshness that I have rarely witnessed. Combine that with wines that are substantial, powerful, and relatively high in alcohol, with super depth of fruit! These are very aromatic wines of great concentration, freshness, laser-like focus, and amazing purity as well as depth. It is the vintage of my lifetime for this region, and I don’t say that lightly.”


For more information check out this article on The Frugal Cook. 

The Frugal Cook: Wine of the Week: Vidal-Fleury Côtes du Rhône 2009...: