Côtes du Rhône Rocks

Who's with me? I love this stuff. Tonight we opened a bottle of Côtes du Rhône Rubis 2005 which we picked up after a Rhone Tasting at Gordon's in Waltham, Mass.

I was reading a post on Tom Wark's blog today where he was comparing wine evaluation to music preferences; in essence making the point that wine appreciation, like art appreciation, is subjective. I would go a step further and say that beyond just being subjective from one individual to the next, our personal reaction is volatile too. Just as a song may send chills up your spine the first time you listen to it, but not the second time, wine can come at you in a lot of different ways as this wine did.

So, here are the official 'objectively' written tasting notes:

Aromas: Cherry, cassis, blackberry, rosemary, violet, mint
Flavors: Cassis, cherry, rosemary, cedar, olive

Summary: Nice supple fruit on the nose is rounded out with garrigue garnish. Fruit hits the tip of your tongue and turns to chewy herbal flavors on the mid-palate with medium body. Medium long finish with hints of cedar and tobacco.

...and here is the review I twittered earlier this evening which is more or less an impressionistic snapshot of an aesthetic moment which occurred in the midst of an hour long interaction with this wine (IOW, how I would paint this wine with words):

Smells like grape jelly on baked red earth from Taos, w/ orange zest & granulated garlic. Tastes like thorny rose & BBQd lavendar. BAM!

Either way, great wine and spectacular value at $12.99.