Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives
So here is my wine review for the week of April 7th...
VIN GRIS DE CIGARE 2004
Description: I did not know when I purchased this bottle that it was an award winner. Winemaker Bonnydoon has already moved on to releasing the 2006 vintage of this wine, but I was able to grab the 2004, which one a gold medal at the San Francisco wine awards a couple of years ago.
The premise of this pink wine is this; similar to all of the new, high end roses that are now being made once again, this wine injects a slight amount of real white grape (in this case Grenache blanc) into their otherwise fully red, rhone syle wine. I have not had any of their other wines, but in this case it produces a salmon colored wine, served in a screw top bottle (which as we’ve discussed before in this space is perfectly acceptable and, many are starting to believe, preferable).
How and when I drank it: Saturday afternoon, March 30, 2008 at my house
How to get it: I found this bottle at SaveMart Supermarket on Stanford Ranch Road in Rocklin. Since then, I have found it is widely produced and findable at wine shops, on line and in some other grocery stores.
How Much: It’s about $11 per bottle at SaveMart
My Thoughts: I’ve learned a few things along the way of re introducing myself to rose wines; for starters, while the wine should be cooler than room temperature, it doesn’t do well cold. 55-60 degrees seems to be the right temp, and was certainly the case with this wine. I opened straight out of the fridge and enjoyed my first sip, but by the time the bottle was done (3 hours later, sitting out at room temperature) it was at its’ peak performance.
I really enjoyed this wine for its balance. It is a dry rose, but far from being too dry. It does not punch you on the swallow or cause you to stick your tongue out grasping for air from the dryness. It does, however, perfectly balance out the fruit flavors, allowing the strawberry, cherry and lavender to be noticed, but certainly not allowing those fruits to overpower the wine and make it sweet. As I have noted here earlier, many of these new roses are excellent, but their sweetness can wear thin quickly. This wine did not do so, and, as I mentioned, allowed me to enjoy the entire bottle in one afternoon.
Overall Score: I was not surprised to find out after the fact that this particular vintage won an award. It’s an excellent wine, and I can only hope that vintages following have lived up the balance and quality. Based solely on the 2004, I strongly recommend it, but let me know if you experiment with newer bottles
4 vines out of 5
VIN GRIS DE CIGAR 2004=
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