The Rhone Rangers hosted a seminar yesterday featuring wines that pay homage to the grapes made famous in France’s Rhone Valley. The seminar was not bound by geography; there were wines from both sides of the Atlantic. The seminar was also not bound by tradition as we tasted blends based on combining Syrah and Cabernet [...]

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Château du Ségriès, Tavel 2007 The ‘06 was a solid, fruity wine. The grapes are 50% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 15% Clairette, 5% Syrah, avg vine age 30 yrs, saignée. Mis au chateau Henri de Lanzac proprietaire a Tavel where they have 7 hectares in the appellation as well as property in Lirac. Segries in provencal [...]

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E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone 2005 This wine is typically on the more polished side of Rhone blends with a hint of oak. That sense comes through again with a bit of earth and dried fruits. The blend is 55% Syrah, 35% Grenache, 8% Mourvedre and some other stuff. Eleve et mis en bouteille Ampuis [...]

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Domaine de la Mordoree, Cotes-du-Rhone, La Dame Rousse, Rose 2007 Smells of strawberry showing quite full-on tonight. There’s a broad mouthfeel with the follow-on fruit to taste and added weight from the alcohol - very nice.

Tasted again in late October, the fruit doesn’t express itself that clearly in the nose, yet it is showing [...]

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Le Clos du Caillou Cotes du Rhone Vielles Vignes Cuvee Unique 2006
The previous vintage was a solid wine, balanced in medium weight with ripe fruits and structure. The 2006 follows suit with smells of black pepper as well. Sourced from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, this wine is a blend of 90% old vine Grenache, 8% Syrah and 2% [...]

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Les Restanques de Pibarnon Bandol 2003
This is a good value offering from Pibarnon, showing ripe fruit overlaid with ripe tannins. This wine gets better each time I taste it. The complexity is there and the edges are softening - last tasted August 27, 2008. Mis au chateau par Comte de Saint Victor, prop.-recolt. a La [...]

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