Wines of the Southern Rhone – 1st Class in a 2 Class Mini-Series

Sunday, January 11th from 3:00 – 4:30
$35/Person

Grape growing in the Rhône is an arduous physical and spiritual sacrifice. Many of the Vineyards are carved into the treacherous mountains that descend dramatically, down towards the banks of the the Rhône river. Here, machine harvesting is impossible, and the small terraces that create a visual topography of the mountains are so narrow and so steeply perched that hand harvesting is a backbreaking task undertaken by leather-skinned pickers, constantly assaulted by the weather and quite literally living on the edge. The vineyards of the southern Rhône’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation are strewn with bright white grapefruit-sized rocks; gnarly old vines pushing through a stone blanket like ancient sentinels struggling for a glimpse at the sun.  People and vine struggle together in the Rhône. It’s a labor that yields incredible beauty. The combination of 13 grape varieties and over 15 distinct appellations gives winemakers an expressionist’s palette to work with. These are spicy and chewy food-loving wines. They run the range from light, bright and gentle to dark, brooding and powerful. These are wines everybody should know.

The Rhône, perhaps the home of France’s oldest vineyards, is divided into two regions – the northern Rhône and the southern Rhône. The river, the grapes and the people unite the two regions but each, along with the many appellations they contain, produces distinct wines built for the table, the cellar, and the glass. In this two class series, we’ll start by tasting and discussing the wines of the southern Rhône. Our first class will feature:

Paul Jeune Château Valcombe Côtes du Ventoux, 2004 ($12/bottle)
Château de Ségriès Côtes du Rhône, 2005 ($11.75/bottle)
Domaine Les Pallières Gigondas, 2005 ($32.25/bottle)
Télégramme Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2005 ($36.25/bottle)

Sunday, January 11th

3:00 – 4:30

$35/Person

Call or e-mail for reservations