Domaine de Chateaumar Cuvee' Bastien

Domaine de Chateaumar

Cuvee’ Bastien 2009

Cotes-du-Rhone, France

100% single vineyard old vine Grenache.

Lush, deep crimson in color with brighter cranberry highlights, this wine is brimming with exotic dark fruit flavors and lots of spice.  One is immediately treated to a spicy mélange on the nose and silkiness on the tongue, like melted dark chocolate and serious plum and blackberry flavors.  Wow.  Inviting, silky smooth texture persists, along with notes of prune, fig, black pepper and red cherries.   Firm, ripe tannins make for a medium to full bodied red.  Seriously fun and delicious all at once!

This is a true declassified Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  For definition’s sake, appellation contrôlée rules for wine in France maintain that only a certain volume of wine can be produced each year with a specific label.  Any excess production must be sold under a broader appellation (region/area) or as “declassified wine”, therefore at a lower price.  The quiet understanding of “declassified” is that we are drinking wine that has been made with the same care and expertise from the same area, as in this case the big shot Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  Bottom line ... with juice such as this you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck!  $14.99 at Rosemont Market/Munjoy (contact Doug at: doug@sopowine.com for availability elsewhere!)

The vines at Domaine de Chateaumar are tended by father and son team, Jean-Felix and Frederic Souret, who manage this sustainably farmed estate with the greatest respect for nature.  No chemical herbicides are used!  Fully matured grapes are handpicked, selected and sorted.  Wines are stored with care and aged for 12 – 18 months prior to actual bottling. 

At left, enjoyed with roasted chicken, herbs & garlic, quinoa and arugula & mixed greens salad with feta.  I may love it even more with a beef stew and rustic vegetables or steak on the grilled and roasted rosemary potatoes.  Or if you’re feeling more exotic and adventurous ... roast duck!

This wine comes to us through the importer Bourgeois Family Selections (located in Asheville, North Carolina) and distributor SoPo Wine Co. (South Portland, ME).  Bourgeois Family Selections is a highly specialized importer focusing on hand selected and unique fine wines from France. http://www.bourgeoiswines.com/about.htm

SoPo Wine Co. is a distributor of fine and unique wines they love, inside and outside the US.  http://www.sopowine.com/