I have been woefully remiss in doing updates. Ironically since joining the wine industry, I haven't had time to blog about wine ;)
Our next meeting is Saturday Sept 27th at 7pm at Tannis & Rick's in Burnaby. After a lengthy discussion with Tannis at Feast of Fields about appropriate wine themes and GSM vs Rhone, the theme for the night is "Rhone style" red wines. YUM! She provided me with the following overview...
Red Rhone grapes were born to blend – the exception here is almost NOT to blend them. Even Syrah, the leader of the pack, is as likely to be blended as bottled as a single varietal. Hundreds of years of experimentation with these grapes have produced a few standard variations on the blending theme.
Probably the three most common strategies with red blends are:
(1) The Chateauneuf model: Start with about half Grenache, add in a good proportion of Syrah and / or Mourvedre for oomph and aging, and round out the complexity with an amazing array of other red and even white grapes.
(2) The hot-weather model: Various proportions of Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan, designed to produce early-drinking wines.
(3) The down under model: GSM (Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre) or Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, in various proportions.
The main red varieties used in Rhône wine are Carignan, Cinsault, Counoise, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Muscardin, Syrah, Durif (Petite Sirah), Piquepoul Noir, Terret Noir and Vaccarèse. Zinfandel has origins in Croatia and southern Italy, but has an affinity with the Rhone style and is considered an "honorary member" of the club. Durif is a grape from southwest France, widely grown in California as Petite Sirah, that is similar in style to some of the red Rhône varieties.
The Syrah grape can produce a hearty, spicy red wine. It has a smooth and supple texture, with smooth tannins. It is rich and complex and is capable of considerable aging. In the Rhône Valley of France, it is blended with other varietals for Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Languedoc-Roussillon and Gigondas. Grapes included in these blended wines are Grenache, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. In Australia, Shiraz is grown in the Barossa Valley and is responsible for the renowned Penfolds Grange. In the early 1980s, Syrah and other Rhône grapes began to influence California winemakers, who then became known as the Rhône Rangers.
The Spanish wines from so-called Rhone varietals (including two important varietals that probably originated in Spain) are different than their French counterparts. The Garnachas from Montsant are certainly not like the Grenache-based blends from the southern Rhone Valley, and the Monastrells from Yecla are not clones of the Mourvedre-based wines found in either the southern Rhone Valley or in Bandol. Yet they all have a certain European balance and finesse, something only the best American producers are approaching.
Rhone-style wines come from the Rhone Valley, from elsewhere in France as well as from Spain, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina and the United States.
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