Holy crap is this a powerful wine. I can’t believe it is half the price of Coudoulet–my favorite wine of theirs and ALREADY a ridiculous bargain compared to Beaucastel. But the Syrah really sings here–none of that Grenache-delusions-of-grandeur nonsense. Allegedly the northern-most vineyard in Southern Rhone: a marked nod to its pure Syrah power.
The blackest, darkest, purplest, blue-rimmed wine you’ve ever poured. Intensely floral–after plentiful dirty-baby-diaper funk blows off–coating the gear-lube, barnyard and petrichor with round intensity maximizing the natural lift of black cherry and berry buried in briary splendor. Without tasting it, I can tell you the rest of these bottles are going down for a LONG, forgotten sleep in the cellar.
Oh but then you taste it. The wallop of perfectly-cast Rhone: sharp and driving, washes the palate with hair-raising angst, subtle fingers of Grenache attempting their “Please come back” massage in a near-futile battle with a version of Syrah INTENT on destroying taste-buds and taking the paint off your car. The background texture is shrill and biting, the entry full and fruity, the middle grinding grapefruit minerality and chalky gravel into your face, breathing out stupendous drying tannins long into a finish firmly controlled by this wine’s idea of *fruitiness*.
This wine is not for the meek and HOW they get away with selling this for sub-30$ is yet another feat of European selections lurking on shelves Americans will never explore because: “complicated”, “weird”, and lacking a label with a dog or sunset on it. I’m SO glad I got a 6-pack of these. BARGAIN OF THE DECADE.
2018 FAMILLE PERRIN ‘Les Cornuds’ SY/GR 50/50 Vinsobres AOC France 14.5
Stephen McConnell 