1998 Cotes du Rhone Villages

[Innkeeper]

A whole bunch of wine in one bottle; 1998 Domaine de Cabasse, Sablet, Cotes du Rhone Villages, Les deux Anges. $13 from www.wine.com , where they featured it in their recent Rhone promotion, and still have it. Ruby red color with purple hues. Pow in the shnozzle with a blast of red raspberries. Full body loaded with layers of concentrated fruit and complex structure with already smooth tannin. Long, delightful finish. A huge hit with the Mrs. Consumed it with lamb steak marinated in a mint, lemon, and olive oil mayonnaise; and gill panned. It was served with an eggplant salad. Excellent. Happily there are five more bottles in the basement.

[Innkeeper]

This is the very best lowest rated wine I've ever had. WS gave it a whopping 73 without comment. Bet the gang at wine.com is going to love that! The good news is that the price isn't going anywhere.

[mrdutton]

My general impression is that the 1998 Cotes du Rhone wines are just tremendous. I've not had a bad one yet. And all that I've tasted so far have been below $15.00 a bottle and have generally been in the $10.00 or less range.

Regardless of RP or WS.......

My wine shop guru agrees and also says (mayhaps I should post this comment somewhere else) that the 1997 Italian wines are also tremendous.

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 11-24-2000).]

[Innkeeper]

Had another bottle of the '98 Sablet the other night with a grillpanned ribeye steak and Italian green beans. This wine gets better and better, and definitely did not deserve a 73 rating from some dork at WS. It's got be on the cheap now, so buy it if you find it. Wine.com might have it.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 01-25-2001).]

[Scoop]

IK, that's when the WS does its biggest service -- when it pans a good wine, leaving those who trust their palates to reap the rewards! Thanks for the tip.

Cheers,

Scoop

[Innkeeper]

It's getting better and better. Popped the second to last one last night with a grillpanned lamb leg steak slathered with olive oil and garlic. Fantastico.

[IrishMum]

Thanks so much IK!

www.wine.com it is then....

I can't wait to get my package! Yum~Yum!

~IrishMum