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Wine Details
Price:
$18.00 per bottle
Description:
The 2003 Rhone Ridge Cuvèe is a blend of 4 classic Rhone Varietals: 60% Syrah, 20%
Grenache, 10% Counois and 10% Cinsault. Like many southern Rhone wines, this is a
full-bodied wine with flavors and aromas of currants, blackberries and spiced fruits. A
cool September delayed the harvest of many of these grapes to the beginning of
November, which resulted in a rich wine with toothsome tannins and a long, sweet, heady
finish. These vines range from 5-10 years old. This wine is 100% destemmed, with a 6
day cold soak followed by 20 days maceration at 90°F. This wine matured for 10 months
in 33% new French oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
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Varietal Definition
Syrah:
Syrah is the eight hundred pound gorilla of Rhone grapes! In the vineyard and the winery, Syrah is typically an easy grape to work with - healthy, early ripening, resistant to mildew and rot; suitable for winemaking in a variety of styles. The wines from Syrah are tannic without being harsh. The wines will have a taste and smell of dark blue fruit like blackberries and blackcurrant, with a strong spicy side where one can find freshly ground pepper and other spices. Syrah is famous for its part in the French blends, such as Côtes du Rhone and Châteauneuf du Pape.
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Grenache:
Grenache Noir is the world’s most widely planted grape used to make red wine, sometimes made into a stand-alone varietal, frequently as a Rosé, but most often as a backbone of red blends. Its strength is its ability to grow in arid and windy conditions. It’s particularly suited to warm coastal regions of California, Spain and France. Grenache-based wines tend to be high in alcohol, with attractive fruit qualities in youth and a sweet berry character.Used as a component in some Northern Rhône reds, nearly exclusively for Rhône Rosés and as the primary component in nearly all Southern Rhône red blends, Grenache is probably most notable as the base varietal for Chateauneuf du Pape, Cotes du Rhône and Gigondas. In spite of its fame coming from French wines, Spain is most likely this grape’s origin.
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Cinsaut/Cinsault:
Semi-classic grape widely grown in southern France and also in the Lebanon. Used as component in some Cotes du Rhone red wine blends. Transplanted to South Africa, where it was erroneously thought to be a Rhone Hermitage grape, and now a widely grown varietal making a popular red wine in that country, it is also often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. It has also been used to create the hybrid grape species known as Pinotage.
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