Nothing better than being invited by my good friend Lucha
Vino to guest blog, especially when the bicycle race is the Paris-Nice, just
wrapped up by Richie Porte, Team Sky member and Australian. Of course, when I signed up to be Lucha’s
equipe, I didn’t know that would be the outcome, or we might have done a
tag-team match.
My inspiration was the
fifth stage, starting off in Chateauneuf du Pape. What a perfect place for a bicycling-inspired
wine taste-off. Of course, Avignon and Chateauneuf were the scene of one of the
great wrestling matches of all time, as the Roman papacy tried to wrest the
crown back from the Avignon prelate, but we’re here to talk wine, not history,
timely though that discussion might be.
The great wines of Chateauneuf are blends dominated by Grenache, Syrah,
and Mourvedre, with many other varieties permitted, the most of any French
AOC. Turns out there are a lot of challengers
to the throne from all over the world, including some fine examples from
Australia, usually referred to as GSM wines.
Had I known Porte would win, we could have done a tag team with
California and Washington in one corner, and France and Australia in the
other. You can just imagine the chair-throwing
mayhem that would have ensued. (Are half
bottles like midget wrestlers?)
While I referee this match, I’ll be assisted by the charming
ring girls, Marvelous Miss M and Divine D, watching our hunky heroes from the
first row, close enough to hear the grunts and smell the sweat of our battlers.
We have an excellent match of middleweights. Our battle is
between the mid-priced wine of the French standard bearer and the quirky
Columbia Valley upstart. From the folks
who brought you Chateau de Beaucastel, we have the 2007 Perrin et Fils Les
Sinards Chateauneuf du Pape; from the Columbia Valley, Owen Roe’s 2011Sinister
Hand.
Tale of the Tape
70% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 15% Mourvedre, typically.
Sourced from younger vines on the Beaucastel property and some
other properties nearby, including one neighboring Beaucastel that Perrin
farms.
Aged in foudres for one year, fined and lightly filtered.
Scores: 92 WS, 90 WA, 16.5 JR
Purchased from LastBottle for $25.
63% Grenache, 19% Syrah, 16% Mourvedre, 2% Cinsault
Sourced from six vineyards in the Columbia Valley.
Past vintages have received 90 points from Wine and Spirits.
Purchased
from Wine on Piedmont, Oakland, CA for $25.
Round 1: First
Opening
Both wrestlers are a little tentative coming out. After a
good deal of swirling around, the Sinister Hand reveals a nose of strawberries
and something a little perfume-y. Odd
for a wrestler, but a pretty smell that has us off balance. The initial sip reveals more of the
strawberry, and some Jolly Rancher candy.
Misses M and D nod vigorously when I suggest that flavor. The mouthfeel reveals glycerine, an almost
sappy feeling, but smooth. In color, the
Columbia Valley kid is purple to dark purple, a bit translucent when held up to
the kitchen spotlights. A very New World wine.
The Perrin might be coming out slowly because the initial
smell is, as Miss M puts it, “off-putting.”
There’s a slight but unmistakable smell of brettanomyces that can only
be called “poopy.” That’s one way to
disarm your opponent, but Miss M is not deterred. She’s finding the palate of the Perrin
intriguing. Beaucastel is known for
using more Mourvedre than many CdP producers, and this seems to give the Perrin
a more savory aspect, some rosemary and sage flavors. Oddly, though, the New
World wine has slightly more Mourvedre, but it’s less apparent. The body is pretty light, but the color of
the Perrin is quite dark. Held up to the
light, it becomes closer to the Owen Roe, but the difference is still
detectable.
Miss M declares the first round for the Perrin, Miss D calls
it a draw. I call it slightly for the
Perrin, but I expect it to use its veteran status six years after the vintage
to open up a lead in the hours to come.
Round 2: One hour after opening
As dinner approaches, the wines are converging in style, but
the lighter strawberry flavor of the Columbia Valley kid inspires Miss M to
say, “It’s a good outdoor wine. I almost
want to put fruit in it and call it sangria.”
Not sure that’s a compliment.
Miss D thinks it’s a bit of a lightweight, but still thinks it’s pretty
nice. The sweetness has been receding a
little and there’s just a little more acid showing, which is good because
dinner is chicken cacciatore, so it needs to stand up to the sauce, as well as
its competitor.
Meanwhile, the Perrin has shaken off the funk and is
smelling pleasanter. It’s playing to the
cheap seats as it sweetens up a little and gains a bit of that sappiness, but
it’s really showing the herbs. Not a ton
of complexity, but there’s more going on here.
The Perrin might never make old bones like a Gordie Howe or
a Nolan Ryan, but it’s using its veteran wiles and has convinced both Miss M
and me that it’s the clear winner of Round Two.
Miss D is siding with the underdog slightly, but, so far, on points, the
Perrin is ahead.
Round Three: One Day After Opening
The ring girls have headed for the exit, worn out by the
carnage. Each bottle is down to a glass
or two. With their labels covered by
cooling jackets and identical VacuVin stoppers in the neck, they’re hard to
tell apart. And, shockingly, they are
hard to tell apart in the glass.
The
upstart from the Northwest is now much more savory, and the French veteran is
looking, well, a little tired. They
throw a few noodle-armed blows at each other, but there’s not a lot of
urgency. Nonetheless, the Perrin shows a
little technique and sophistication, slipping holds and turning the opponent
around, while the Owen Roe looks eager for a rematch when it’s had a few years
and put on a little more muscle. Its own
sinewy Mourvedre is just starting to show through the sheen of the young
Grenache. While it’s got a solid future,
it just barely ekes out this round of the match over the Perrin.
Wrap Up and Overall Observations
These are moderately priced wines for the breed, at least as
Chateauneuf du Pape goes, and they have much to be moderate about. If you like a lighter Cotes du Rhone style,
the Owen Roe provides that sweet, juicy strawberry puree. But it might be a wine that proves its mettle
over time, which would justify the above-CdR price.
The Perrin Les Sinards is plainly not the
flagship of the brand, but a way to get into the Chateauneuf ring at a fair
price. The trade-off is something that
wants to be consumed as soon as possible, at least once the brett smell blows
off. And it’s not one for the long-haul. The 2010 has received better reviews, but the
composition is the same; only the possibly better structured vintage suggests
that it’s worth holding for the long term.
I’d call these wines Very Good, and would invite them back again for informal backyard
exhibitions.
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