There are a few things about Layer Cake Côtes du Rhône that you’ll notice are different from other Côtes du Rhône wines. The first thing you’ll notice is that the brand is more Americanized than others. The name “Layer Cake” is much more contemporary than the names on most Côtes du Rhône wines and the label is a contemporary design.
The second thing that you’ll notice as different is that it has a screw cap. I have no prejudice about screw caps. In fact, there are some very good wines that now come with screw caps.
You may not notice the final thing that’s different about Layer Cake, but I’ll tell you… it’s 100% Syrah. Most Côtes du Rhône wines you’ll find are blends, with Grenache as the dominant grape in Southern Rhone wines and Syrah as the dominant grape in Northern Rhone wines. They usually have both Grenache and Syrah, and some complementary varieties like Carignan and Mourvèdre. While this one is all Syrah, it is sourced from four different vineyards around (but not in) Châteauneuf du Pape.
For those of you planning to join me at the wine tasting at Liquor Direct this weekend, this is another wine that will be served. Here’s what I thought of it.
The nose shows mostly cherry, with undertones of fig, asparagus, vanilla and black pepper. The palate is rich and beautifully balanced. Perfect acidity and tannin levels make it lively and soothing at the same time. The flavors are mostly cherry and berry, plus some mid-palate chocolate and spicy black pepper taking you into the finish. The length of the finish is decent, although there isn’t much complexity on the finish. Overall, it’s a great wine for the price.
Wine: Layer Cake
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 88
Price Paid: $13.98
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Before I get into this review, I have a quick announcement to bring to your attention. I, along with Michelle Lentz from My Wine Education, been invited to present the wine tastings this weekend at both Liquor Direct locations in Northern Kentucky. On Friday, September 26, I will be at the Fort Thomas location from 4-8pm and on Saturday I’ll be at the Covington location from 2-6pm. I’ll be presenting value wines from Southern France, including a couple whites and a few Côtes du Rhône reds. Michelle will be opposite me at the Covington location on Friday and in Fort Thomas on Saturday with a “Michelle’s Favorites” theme. Stop on by to try some wine. One of the selections will be this one I’m reviewing today from Kermit Lynch.
Kermit Lynch got into the wine business as a retailer in California and later ventured into importing and distribution. As an importer, Kermit Lynch is one name that I trust. Many of the wines they import don’t fall into my under $20 price range, but when I find ones that do I snatch them up. They are typically very selective about the wines they import and I have high a level of assurance that I won’t be disappointed with the quality when I see the Lynch name on the label.
This is an example of a Kermit Lynch import that is a good bargain. It’s worth the price, although I would approach this as an everyday wine versus something for special occasions.
I wasn’t able to find out a whole lot about the exact variety blend or the vineyard locations for this one, so all I can offer you are my tasting notes.
Smokey oak, barnyard, and black cherry make up the bouquet. I was really surprised to get an oak quality in the nose since I don’t believe this wine has ever touched oak. Côtes du Rhône wines are typically “drink now” style wines and are fermented in cement vats and are not aged in oak. I would say that aroma is indicative of the earthiness you find in French wines.
The palate is very well balanced. There is a decent amount of fruit with plum and black cherry, complemented by a crisp acidity, chocolate on the mid-palate and velvety tannins throughout. It’s a little bit spicy on the finish and a little bit smokey/earthy too. This is a decent wine now, but will be better in a couple more years.
Wine: Cuvée Sélectionée par Kermit Lynch
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 86
Price Paid: $14.98
It’s been a few days since I’ve posted, in fact it’s been a few days since I’ve been online. Last weekend we had the remnants of hurricane Ike come through Cincinnati and brought 70 mph winds for several hours. That left me and hundreds of thousands of other folks without power all week. What do you do when the power is out for days? Drink wine in the dark.
It’s back on now and it’s time for another review.
Domaine André Brunel Cuvée Sommelongue 2006
The color is a brilliant, bright red, with only a medium depth. It takes a while to open up and is extremely tight right out of the bottle. There is an acidic nature to the nose that, in a subtle way, reminds me of a photochemical acid stop bath. Otherwise, the nose is decent with plum, blackberry and a hint of salami. The palate is nicely balanced albeit underwhelming. Plum and blackberry lead into chocolate and pepper. It has a good mouth feel with smooth tannins and a subtle heat from the alcohol. It’s an enjoyable wine, but not extraordinary.
Wine: Domaine André Brunel Cuvée Sommelongue
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 83
Price Paid: $14.99
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Montirius is a wonderful example of the values you can find from Côtes du Rhône wines. They have been a family-owned estate for five generations, and as such have a lot of experience producing quality wine that reflects the traditions of the region.
While they’ve been producing wine for generations and used the knowledge passed down from one generation to another, they have also evolved their methods over the years to improve quality and sustainability. Over the past twenty-some years they have eliminated the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In 1999 they produced their first wine from biodynamically grown grapes. They are now certified organic by Ecocert and certified biodynamic by Biodyvin.
Biodynamic farming is a step beyond just organic. It’s a more holistic approach to agriculture and involves treating the land as a self-nourishing system and employing techniques to encourage the symbiotic relationships between the soil, plants and living organisms. It employs the use of composts and manure to provide natural nutrients and it even prescribes techniques based on the lunar calendar. It’s some new age stuff.
While Montirius employs these techniques in their vineyards, it appears that the grapes in this Côtes du Rhône don’t come from the Montirius vineyards, but rather from another biodynamic vineyard in the region and it’s vinified and bottled by Montrius.
This wine is produced with 73% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 7% Mourvedre grapes. The nose is full of delightful aromas, including red raspberry, blackberry, barnyard, leather and spice. Although there is a decent complexity to the nose the intensity is somewhat subtle.
The palate is well balanced and dominated with cherry, raspberry and blackberry flavors. You’ll also get some yummy dark chocolate flavors. The tannins are a little heavy, giving the wine a black tea characteristic on the finish. That is offset by a tangy acidity. Overall, it’s a pretty good wine at a decent price.
Wine: Montirius
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 86
Price Paid: $12.98
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Made of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, this wine comes from the southern part of the Côtes du Rhône region near Orange, Vaucluse in France, and more specifically just outside the village of Camaret. This is not far from the famous Chateauneuf du Pape appellation. Domaine du Vieux Chene produces a number of wines from these vineyards with organic farming techniques.
The fruit dominates the nose of this wine. Blackberry, plum and some raspberry. There are also vanilla and oak aromas. The palate is very well balanced. There is a good presence of ripe berry flavors with a crisp acidity to make it lively. The finish is very long and enjoyable, and brings a little bit of heat to the party.
All told, this is a very enjoyable wine and a good value at $12.99.
Wine: Domaine du Vieux Chene Cuvée des Capucines
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 88
Price Paid: $12.99
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I avoided the French aisles of wine shops for ages, mostly because I was intimidated by names like this one: Château Beauchêne Vignoble De La Vialle Côtes du Rhône Villages. And in addition to being a fairly hefty name, many of the French producers use the fanciest scripted fonts they can find, making it totally impossible to read. The font on this one isn’t too bad, compared to some others I’ve seen, and if you spend some time with French wines the language barrier isn’t so bad either.
There’s a lot of stuff in this name, so let’s break it down to simplify it… Producer: Château Beauchêne, Brand/Designation: Vignoble De La Vialle, Appellation: Côtes du Rhône Villages.
I had mentioned at the start of this series on Côtes du Rhône that I would feature a couple from the Villages appellation. This usually signifies a step up in quality and value, but in this case I found it to be fairly comparable with non-Villages Côtes du Rhône wines.
This is a Southern Rhone wine, with grapes coming from vineyards in the North and South of Orange, France. The blend is Grenache 53%, Syrah 30%, Cinsault 7% and Carignan 10%.
Blackberry pie in a cedar chest is the best way I can summarize the aromas from this wine. There is a definite blackberry aroma, but it has a little extra sweetness to it, which is why I would say blackberry pie. It also has a hint of barnyard smell — yes, by that I mean a sweet manure smell. It’s not a bad thing though, I promise.
The palate is soft and approachable. I would characterize it as a soft blackberry and plum with a wee bit of black pepper. Overall, it’s a decent wine. It’s a reasonable value and it’s a medium-bodied wine, making it versatile for matching with food.
One bonus you get with this one that you don’t get with a lot of other wines is a fancy bottle—with a design in the glass. My wife liked it so much that she asked me to give her the bottle when I’m done with it. I guess it will end up becoming our next dish soap dispenser. Weeee!
Wine: Château Beauchêne Vignoble De La Vialle
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône Villages
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 84
Price Paid: $10.99
The price on this bottle of wine can’t be beat for a decent Côtes du Rhône.
Before I opened this bottle I was worried that it might be flabby, but that wasn’t an issue. The nose is a little tight, but much more intense and interesting than I was expecting from such a bargain wine. The bouquet has a smoky oak quality surrounding blackberry, rhubarb, a hint of strawberry and tobacco.
The palate brings a nice heat to it and decent acidity. I was surprised by the heat with only a 13.5% alcohol level. There isn’t a ton of fruit on the palate, but there is some blackberry. The finish adds a touch of spice, although there isn’t much length.
It’s a decent, drinkable and extremely affordable French wine. The only areas in which I would be critical are that it could have more intensity and complexity, and the viscosity is a slightly thin. All told, I can’t complain at this price.
Wine: Jean-Luc Colombo Les Abeilles
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 84
Price Paid: $6.96
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It’s time to begin our next series of reviews, and as promised it’s red blends from the Côtes du Rhône region, and I’ll highlight a couple wines from the Côtes du Rhône-Villages appellation. First let’s explore what this appellation is.
Côtes literally means, “hills.” So, think of these wines as from the hills of Rhone. The designation can be broadly used to describe any wine from the Rhône valley, but it really is a specific appellation. I think of it as the budget-level designation as appellations within the region that have markedly high quality have earned their own designation, such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Those wines, while generally considered to be of higher quality, are considerably more expensive than wines with the Côtes du Rhône designation. And I’ve found that wines from Côtes du Rhône are still quite good and are often a great value.
Côtes du Rhône-Villages is an appellation that represents villages within the Côtes du Rhône appellation that are a step up in quality—but not a big enough step up to earn an individual appellation. There are great values to be found in Côtes du Rhône-Villages.
Wines from Côtes du Rhône are generally blends and Grenache is usually the dominant grape with a variety of Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre as additional varieties. In some wines you’ll find Syrah as the dominant variety, and that is typically an indication that the wine comes from northern Rhône. I gave a preview of this series a few weeks ago with an early review of Delas Saint-Esprit, which is a tasty wine from the northern Rhône.
Today we’re tasting the 2005 Réserve Perrin from Perrin & Fils. This wine is 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre from southern Rhône. It’s a medium-bodied wine, which is characteristic of this region. And it is an outstanding value!
It’s rather simple, but surprisingly good for the price. Cherry, oak and tar aromas make up the nose. A good acid level makes the palate more lively than I anticipated. It shows mostly black cherry and chocolate flavors. There’s a hint of smokiness on the finish which lasted longer than I expected. The tannins give it a smooth feel. All together, I was very pleased with this wine at $8.98.
Wine: Réserve Perrin
Varietal: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 85
Price Paid: $8.98
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Last fall, a friend of mine and fellow Cincinnati area wine blogger Michelle Lentz lost her sister, Krystal Pepper, due to a congenital heart defect. In an effort to honor Krystal’s memory, her friends and family have established a memorial scholarship in her name and are working to raise $25,000 in the next three years to fund the scholarship.
They have been organizing various events to raise money for the fund and on September 11 from 6-8 PM they are having a wine tasting fundraiser at The Party Source in Bellevue, KY.
The cost is $40 per person and includes paired cheeses, a flight of 6 reds, and education about the wines. 100% of the proceeds will go towards the scholarship.
The focus of the event will be red wines from up and coming, young French winemakers and up and coming French wine regions.
The event is limited to 30 people and is filling up fast. Tickets must be pre-purchased via online registration.
It sounds like a great event. I plan to attend and I suggest you do as well. Visit the Krystal Pepper Scholarship Fund website to register.
I’ve commented to friends in the past that wine has become a commodity. There are so many options, that wine producers need to do something different to break through the clutter. If you read the copy on wine labels and advertising, it all starts to sound the same. In order to do something different, some producers are looking at enhancing the wine drinking experience, and I think this is an area that’s ripe with opportunity.
I came across a company from The Netherlands that is seizing this opportunity with a wine package design that unfolds and converts into a wine tasting game. For those consumers who want to learn more about wine, they provide all the tools you need for a small wine tasting party in one package (except for the glasses).
The package includes four bottles of wine, stickers to cover the wine labels, a pamphlet with instructions and descriptions of the wines and a box that unfolds to become the game board. The idea behind a wine tasting party like this is fairly simple and anyone could do this on their own, but having it all come in one package makes it convenient for a last minute party activity.
They are selling the wine tasting game to consumers in the Netherlands under the 4 x Proeven name. And they’re marketing the concept as “TryVertising” to wine producers in the US under the name Taster Game.
I’m sure you’ll be seeing these in wine shops near you in the not-to-distant future.
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