2007 Rhone Wine; 1987 Rhone Pricing

2007 Mas Carlot Costieres de Nimes Les Enfants Terribles Red Wine; other red varietal; Languedoc-Roussillon; $13.99

$11.89 with case discount. Please Note!!! Website is unable to reflect discounted prices on your orders. We will apply the discounted price when we process your order in our shop.

Just like Anya wrote last week, I too have noticed an absence of peaches and tomatoes; not only from the farmer’s market, but from the fruit bowl that sits atop my refrigerator. It all hit me on my drive home this past Monday evening when I realized I had to turn on my headlights to comply with the law. Yes, it is OCEHb. (That would be Cyrillic for autumn.) No need to panic. It’s okay, Pete. Take a deep breath. It’s a great time of year. It’s just time to switch gears a little. The fall is good for all kinds of reasons, right? Sure there is talk coming from France that we very well may have yet another “vintage of the century” on our hands … how does one say ‘whatever’ in French? We’ve got our own harvest occurring nearby; and though it’s no match for a drive through Vermont, the colors of the vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties can be quite lovely. Fall also means shorter days and longer nights. That’s a good thing. The cooler temperatures are great for my treehouse apartment too. The windows are now closed after having been open for four months, yet it is nice and cool inside. That means I can store more wine there. That’s a good thing. The cooler weather also gravitates me to the kitchen more often. I am looking forward to simmering hearty soups, sauces, and stews. I’ll still have Rosé on hand in case it gets too warm in there, but talk of all the hearty food makes me think of bigger, heartier (read: red) wines. It seems to me I’m not alone in this mindset here. It would take more than one hand for me to count, today alone, how many customers I have directed to the very wine I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the 2007 ‘Les Enfants Terribles’ from Mas Carlot.

There must be something in the air about this wine. The entry for the 2006 on our blog has been getting the most hits in the last day, week, month, and quarter. It is currently 2nd for the year. That means there’s some interest in it, eh? The 2006 version was “Wine of the Day” on Robert Parker’s website just this past Friday! Well, we’re out of the 2006, but if you’ve heard anything about southern Rhone wines in 2007 you must know we’re sitting on yet another blockbuster bargain wine here. It was with tremendous anticipation that I grabbed a bottle on the way out the door last night. One must be careful about expectations, as they can lead to disappointments. I got home around 7:30, so the hearty stews, etc. had to be put off in favor of a Montreal rib-eye, pasta, sautéed spinach, and my last heirloom tomato. I walked in the kitchen, hit shuffle on the Ipod, fired up a couple of burners, and poured a little aperitif (that’s how I roll). Everything came together as usual and as I sat down enjoying the view of the colorful neon lights of the Lark Theater, I poured a glass of wine. This is exactly the kind of wine I think of when I think of the wines from the south of France; low on price, long on character. I mean serious character. The aromas were dark. And rich. I got a savory quality, a hint of licorice, herbs, and a brambly berry. On the palate, it was wide. It has medium weight which, I think, allows for sensing and identifying the copious nuances. A fine balanced finish that lingered pleasantly only left me screaming as to what a value this wine is. Screaming. Loudly. CAN YOU HEAR ME? This wine will sell out. Please don’t miss the chance to taste it. Peter Zavialoff Feel free to email me with any questions or comments about 2007 Rhone wines, autumn nights or colors, or anything really: peter.winehouse@sbcglobal.net

2007 Mas Carlot Costieres de Nimes Les Enfants Terribles Red Wine; other red varietal; Languedoc-Roussillon; $13.99

$11.89 with case discount. Please Note!!! Website is unable to reflect discounted prices on your orders. We will apply the discounted price when we process your order in our shop.

2006 Mas Carlot Costieres de Nimes Les Enfants Terribles

Parenting Children and Vines We have been touting the work of tour-de-force Nimes winemaker Diane Puymorin lately, and now we want to raise the flag for our other force-to-be-reckoned-with woman winemaker in Nimes (not to mention fellow champion of our beloved Mourvedre), Nathalie Blanc-Mares. You may already know her bold Grenache/Syrah and Cabernet/Syrah cuvees. However, her 50/50 blend of Mourvedre and Syrah named Les Enfants Terribles always stands out for its deep, meaty richness (if any two varieties resemble blood in a bottle, they are Mourvedre and Syrah, and what a treat to get these two alone together … why am I suddenly hungry for the thick-cut lamb chops in my fridge?!) So, what’s with the name? The story goes that Nathalie, her husband Cyril (who coincidentally heads up neighboring estate Mas des Bressades) and importer Bobby Kacher were shooting the bull one day about their rambunctious kids whilst tasting some tanks and barrels to make final blending decisions. The conversation also raised the topic of the many and various difficulties of growing these wild grape varieties (therein lies the pun). Taken by a particular lot of Mourvedre that seemed like it would harmonize perfectly with a crack batch of Syrah, they couldn’t resist creating a new cuvee. So, we must credit Blanche, Eugene, Olympe, Achille and Alexander for their antics that inspired their parents to fashion this beauty. Dark and brooding in character, with lots of underlying energy, this showcases the pure blue fruit aromas that seem to be part and parcel of both good quality Mourvedre (Boysenberry, black raspberry) and Syrah (freshly plucked blueberries, currants) in counterpoint with smoked meat, beef blood and wild herbs, tamed by a hint of oak-infused cocoa and vanilla. (If this wine at all resembles Nathalie, Cyril and Bobby’s children, they are an intense, serious, impactful lot!) I haven’t said anything about price yet. The vagaries of growing top-quality Syrah and Mourvedre are costly and labor intensive and most often drive up the cost of the wine. But I’m not playing my cards close to my vest, hesitating to drop the bomb about some boutique-priced Languedoc wine. In fact, not only is it a privilege to experience Mourvedre and Syrah in equal parts together, I am happy to announce that this wine only costs you $13.99 per bottle or $11.89 with case discount. Hats off to Nathalie, not to mention her human and vinous Enfants Terribles!– Patrick Mitten