rasteau, red blend

For everyone out there that doesn’t work in advertising I commend you; doctors, law enforcement, I guess even corporate jobs. You typically don’t drink at work. Not saying I drink on the job, but usually towards the end of the day (let’s say 5PM) folks in the office twist off the lid of a bottle and kick back to hang out.

This particular Friday I had time to kill before my date and I desperately wanted an old world, peppery red wine. I ran across the street, to what has recently been “rebranded” as YOLO wines. The gentlemen referred me to this wine and two weeks later I’m still thinking about it.

wine name: rasteau

vintage: 2015

style/type: red rhone wine – 60% grenache, 20% mouvedre, 20% carignan

country/region: France

price: $22

appearance:

• clarity: Thankfully it was clear. I really wanted this wine so if it wasn’t I probably would have cried.
• intensity: Oh man was it deep. I couldn’t even read through it.
• color: But it was also on the purple side. I found this odd because it’s a 2015, but purple would usually indicate a younger wine. OK so now I’m intrigued…

nose:

• condition: This wine was clean. Please refer to my thoughts on the clarity to see how I would have felt if it was funky,
• intensity: It had a medium smell. It wasn’t overly pronounced but it wasn’t super light either.
• aromas: Wow this is exactly what I wanted. Notes of pepper, vanilla, blackberries, coconut, mushrooms. Dirty (i.e. like dirt), but in a good way 🙂

palate:

• sweetness: If this wasn’t dry I probably would have thrown up. Can you imagine? Sweet + dirt… no, thank you.
• acidity + tannin level: This wine had a medium acidity and medium tannins… it was very well balanced.
• body: This had one of the fullest bodies I’ve tasted in a long time in a really good way.
• flavors: The flavors were exactly what I had smelled on the nose. Spices, pepper, vanilla, blackberries, coconut, and mushrooms lingered throughout my mouth, all over my tongue, down the back of my throat. Just absolutely brilliant in taste.
• finish: I bet you could guess by now, but it had a long finish. 5, 10, even 20 seconds later I still tasted it and yearned for more.

conclusion: I’d swipe right on this wine and give it a full 5. It was an excellent old world red. It had everything I was looking for; tall, dark, and handsome. 

❤ happy tasting