D3

Craig Pinhey

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The past few days are a bit of a blur to me, as I've quickly made my way from Avignon in the Southern Rhône to where I am now, in Tain Hermitage, next to Hermitage, one of the most famous appellations in the Northern Rhône - and the world.

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I arrived jet-lagged on Sunday night, and have tasted my way - in wine and food - north, as part of an arranged trip with another Canadian writer. We are hitting many of the key appellations, getting a good idea of the terroir and its effect on the key local grapes.

We started Southwest of Avignon in Costia¨res de Nimes, enjoying the great value whites, reds and roses - a specialty of Southern France, including Rhône - of Chateau de Nages.

Here, and in many of the Rhône appellations, the main white grapes are Grenache Blanc, Rousanne, Marsanne and Viognier. The classic Rhône reds, which are usually blends, are typically made from Grenache Noir (same grape, but the skins are used), Syrah, Mourvedere, and sometimes Carignan and Cinsault. There are a few lesser-known others.

Château de Nages wines are very good value. Their La Reserve Blanc is aromatic, fresh and only $14.95 in Canada (not in New Brunswick). The equivalent rouge has the requisite Rhône characteristics of smoke, tar, black fruit, pepper and some meatiness, all for $14.95 at Quebec's SAQ.

From there, we headed for a nice lunch of foie gras then fish, served with an aromatic and peachy Domaine Chaume Arnold Côtes Du Rhône Villages Blanc, then drove on past Avignon just North West to Tavel, the most renowned appellation for rosé in the world. There, they treat rose as a serious wine, giving it skin contact for tannic structure, and sometimes even oak.

I had my first ever flight of Tavel, in a very interesting tasting that included a light cherry and spicy flavoured Cuvee Tableau, grown on sandy soil, then a minerally, crisp Les Lauzeraies, from limestone soil, and finally the Cuvée Royale, with rich cherry and raspberry fruit and firm tannins, grown on the famous stony soils you see in many Rhône appellations. These all came from Les Vignerons de Tavel, and we really should have these wines in New Brunswick. I have seen $30 Tavel listed in Atlantic Canada, which few people will buy, but these straightforward Tavels sell for less than $20 in other parts of Canada.

After a flight over the area vineyards, we had dinner with a representative from Cellier des Dauphins, makers of those 250-ml min-bottles of Rhône omnipresent in Quebec, and now available in New Brunswick in both rouge et blanc for $4.99 a bottle. It is decent dry table wine but they make other, more impressive wines.

The next day, we started with a walk around gorgeous Avignon, and a memorable tasting at La Bouteillerie in the historic Palais de Papes. Then we headed north to Châteauneuf-du-Pape for lunch at Verger Au Papes restaurant, beside the iconic château, enjoying wines from Skalli, a large producer with both Vin Du Pays wines and very correct appellation wines, including a food-friendly 2007 Côtes du Rhône Villages.

And on to the celebrated Château Beaucastel, on the outskirts of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, bordering the town of Orange.

Beaucastel is owned by the Perrin family, who make my favourite value French wines: La Vielle Ferme. Their blanc, rouge et rosé are all recommended heartily at their under-$14 price points at NB Liquor.

We tried their tasty Reserve Perrin Wines ($18.99 for the red at NB Liquor) some of their commune wines, including a pretty serious Cairanne, a good value Vinsobre, and a peppery Gigondas (with a Syrah-like nose although it is 80 per cent Grenache) as well as a Beaucastel Rouge from 2007. I was very surprised how drinkable this monster was at so young an age. It was a very good year, so the fruit is there already. Winemaker Matthieu Perrin had just opened it, and it already was showing a very attractive nose of licorice, tar, and very evident black fruit. It had tannins to last, but drinks well now. Beaucastel is traditional in that they use all 13 allowable grapes in their Châteauneuf-du-Pape, although the total of all white grapes is less than five per cent. You can buy Beaucastel in New Brunswick for $94.99.

Last stop for the day was at the much smaller Domaine De L'Ameillaud, in Cairanne. I really enjoyed the personality of these wines, which showed lots of earthy "terroir" notes: tar, smoke, minerality, and red and black fruit. A 2005-6-7 vertical of their Cairanne showed the importance of vintage variation in France, even in the Southern Rhône. The 2005 had a developed nose, with anise, herbs, tar and fairly impressive tannins, whereas the '06 had the tar, but also had big drying tannins that definitely needed time, and the '07 seemed juicy and plummy in comparison.

This was a good start, but just a start, really. Next week: The Rest of Rhône.

Cheers!

Craig Pinhey is a writer and Sommelier, available for private tastings. Visit him at www.frogspad.ca.