Réserve Perrin Côtes du Rhône Red Blend

It’s time to begin our next series of reviews, and as promised it’s red blends from the Côtes du Rhône region, and I’ll highlight a couple wines from the Côtes du Rhône-Villages appellation.  First let’s explore what this appellation is.

Côtes literally means, “hills.”  So, think of these wines as from the hills of Rhone.  The designation can be broadly used to describe any wine from the Rhône valley, but it really is a specific appellation.  I think of it as the budget-level designation as appellations within the region that have markedly high quality have earned their own designation, such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  Those wines, while generally considered to be of higher quality, are considerably more expensive than wines with the Côtes du Rhône designation.  And I’ve found that wines from Côtes du Rhône are still quite good and are often a great value.

Côtes du Rhône-Villages is an appellation that represents villages within the Côtes du Rhône appellation that are a step up in quality—but not a big enough step up to earn an individual appellation.  There are great values to be found in Côtes du Rhône-Villages.

Wines from Côtes du Rhône are generally blends and Grenache is usually the dominant grape with a variety of Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre as additional varieties.  In some wines you’ll find Syrah as the dominant variety, and that is typically an indication that the wine comes from northern Rhône.  I gave a preview of this series a few weeks ago with an early review of Delas Saint-Esprit, which is a tasty wine from the northern Rhône.

Today we’re tasting the 2005 Réserve Perrin from Perrin & Fils.  This wine is 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre from southern Rhône.  It’s a medium-bodied wine, which is characteristic of this region.  And it is an outstanding value!

It’s rather simple, but surprisingly good for the price.  Cherry, oak and tar aromas make up the nose.  A good acid level makes the palate more lively than I anticipated.  It shows mostly black cherry and chocolate flavors. There’s a hint of smokiness on the finish which lasted longer than I expected.  The tannins give it a smooth feel.  All together, I was very pleased with this wine at $8.98.

Wine: Réserve Perrin
Variety: Côtes du Rhône
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 85
Price Paid: $8.98

Find Réserve Perrin with Snooth