Image of Domaine du Cayron via Snooth
The other night I had drinks and appetizers with a few new and old friends at the Pamplemousse Grille, the local spot I can walk to (and from) that just happens to have the best food around. I pulled a few old gems from the cellar-- 1999 Gigondas' that are drinking exceptionally well right now.
The 1999 Domaine du Cayron is rustic, spicy, berryish. It's got gobs of black fruit just racing around the glass. The blueberry and black raspberry flavors, along with road tar, black pepper and a hint of pork aromas made the wine one to show how good a country French wine from the Rhone can be.
Next up was the 1999 Les Pallieres. This is the wine made in partnership between Vieux Telegrpahe and Kermit Lynch. The wine starts off with a bouquet of boysenberry jam and white pepper. In style and structure it is a smoothy. Elegant. If the du Cayron is the man, the Les Pallieres is the woman. Both, which were present and served in the next to the last flight a week earlier during the International Grenache Day Dinner, showed just as well, giving more credibility to proper cellaring. The silky almost velvet like palate feel of the Les Pallieres really won me over. Having now been drinking these wines since the 1998 vintage, and with many more recent bottles in the cellar I've grown more and more excited about the the aging potential of the Southern Rhones when made expertly. These two are not going anywhere fast, except to more dinners with me.
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