3 Rhone gooduns

These were tasted at one of Sydney’s finest imported wine meccas, the Ultimo Wine Centre. If you are ever in Sydney town, don’t miss out on the Saturday tastings – always high quality interesting wines to taste, with the only challenge to walk out of there with your credit card unscathed.

Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc 2007
Really quite a surprise. I’ve got limited experience with white Southern Rhones, but this was such a different wine to the norm – so crisp, dry and reserved. On the nose it has beeswax, honey and a whiff of lanolin & white flowers. Its very tight and unusually fragrant for a wine style that is built more on palate textures & weight than aromatics.

The palate is similarly reserved & dry, with none of the glycerol heavy weight of typical Southern Rhone whites. Indeed, this had me thinking of Chenin Blanc with its crisply honeyed flavours, the finish crisp, even if the acidity is still quite low.

Quite delicious stuff. 17.2+

Chateau Mont Redon Cotes du Rhone 2006
Bargain. Grab a bottle if you can, because for under $25 (and I’ve seen it in Vintage Cellars in Australia at this price) its an absolutely delicious snapshot of what makes Cotes Du Rhone great. Lovely, musky rich fruit nose, it smells sweet and modern, but also recognisably Rhonish, with is grilled meats & spice & savoury rich fruited palate. Its hardly deep and sophisticated but its so drinkable and authentic. Winner. 17.0

Domaine de la Janasse Chateauneuf du Pape 2006
Special wine. It takes a while to unfurl, but when it does, this has the elusive x factor ‘wowness’. The nose has pepper, licorice and typical CdP hot stones, but it all sits sub surface, hinting at the cellaring future on offer here. The palate is succulent and ripe, but it all tightens up toward the end with some almost Italianate long long tannins.

Ultimately this is a classically impressive old world red, with its savoury nuances and excellent tannin structure that will only improve with cellaring time. Superb. 18.7