On May 19, 4:05Â*pm, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> On May 19, 3:26�pm, DaleW > wrote:
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> > Couple �of wines tasted over last 4 days:
>
> > 2007 Ch. de Roquefort "Corail" ros� (Cotes de Provence)
> > This was with some ham and a mixture of beet greens and broccoli rabe.
> > Strawberries and cherries marinated in citrus. Good acidity, a
> > pleasing bitter note in background, very tasty. On days 2 & 3 the
> > citrus/bitter had faded, but still a tasty simple ros�. �Label says
> > Grenache, Styrah, Cinsault, Carignan, Vermentino. & Clairette. B/B+
> > �
> > 2006 St Cosme Cotes du Rhone
> > This was with a lamb chop. Good body for a CdR, a peppery note over
> > fairly dense dark berry fruit. Some tannins, ok length. Holds up well
> > overnight. Not running out for more, but might pick up if I wanted to
> > fill a case, and it's got enough body to last for a while. B
> > �
> > Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
> > wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
> > drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
> > promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
>
> Is it me or has the nature of Cotes du Rhone fundimentally changed in
> the past few years? Â*It seems that every CdR that I've had in the past
> 3-4 years has been fairly dark and dense and even a bit jammy. Â*I've
> just had the '02, '03 and '05 St Cosme and found them all to be dark
> berry jammy full bodied wines yet early vintages such as '95, '96 and
> '99 showed a lighter more balanced and restrained "French style" wine.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

This one wasn't jammy. The base St Cosme (as opposed to the Deux
Albion) is I think all Syrah. I've been drinking St Cosme since 90s
(not sure when I started, between '96 & '99 vintages) and see vintage
variations, but not a trend. The '99 was about like this one- a CdR
that could pass for a fairly hefty Crozes. Personally, I like this
style of CdR rather than more Grenache driven ones.

That said, I think that Mark has a point about prices, CdP, and CdRs
in general. I also think the generic light negociant CdRs of the pass
are imported here less as the Rhone gained popularity, there's a
little more selectivity.