2009 Delas CdR Saint Esprit

[hotwine]

I like this wine. True to its Rhone character, Grenache and Syrah blend (maybe others?), very tasty with dark ruby fruits and enough wood to be interesting but not over-powering, very nice food wine. Enjoyed one night with beef stew and another with broiled chicken breasts and purple peas. 13.5% alc/vol and all of $8.89 at Costco. Would have guessed a 2007 Rhone; if this is representative of the '09s, we're in for lots of good stuff from the region for the vintage.

[winoweenie]

Good news Hotsie. Will be fun to see what the big boys send us from this vintage. WW

[TheEngineer]

Yeah I agree with that. I like Delas wines too and if this is a good bell weather, its a good sign.

[wondersofwine]

The distributor at the Rhone tasting I attended gave us a quick rundown on vintages and 2009 is supposed to be a good one like 2007 (2007 maybe a warmer year, bit riper than the traditionalists prefer but I liked the ones I sampled and then purchased (3 out of about 9 hit the right spot with me.) He admitted that 2008 had its problems. He said 2003 (the really hot year in Europe) had overripened fruit. 2004 was pretty solid. 2007 called the vintage of the century and 2009 and 2010 both good.