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2017 Côtes du Rhône
Selected by Kermit Lynch
If you ever want to show someone what a red wine from the southern Rhône tastes like, this is the first bottle you should open. Each year, Kermit and Anthony travel to a cave cooperative outside of Avignon to sample two dozen tanks and craft an unfiltered blend that best represents that vintage in the southern Rhône. Packed with flavors of black olives, herbs, and blackberries, this custom bottling—which we have imported for more than three decades—is far more complex and refined than you might expect given the price. Take the tannin, to start. It is here in perfect measure, leaving you with a red that has some grip and spine, but is at the same time supremely approachable. Next, feel the generous acidity on your tongue. The versatility of this acid is, in large part, what makes this bottling such an ideal weeknight red. Open it on Tuesday, and it’s perfect with some simple pasta. Didn’t finish it in one night? Pour it again on Wednesday with a grilled chicken breast or burger. This wine is what the southern Rhône is all about.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 48% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 8% Carignan, 6% Cinsault, 3% Mourvèdre |
Appellation: | Côtes du Rhône |
Country: | France |
Region: | Southern Rhône |
Producer: | Selected by Kermit Lynch |
Vineyard: | 40 years average, 36 ha |
Soil: | Marl, Limestone |
Aging: | Wine is aged in cement tank before bottling |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 14% |
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About The Producer
Selected by Kermit Lynch
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Where the newsletter started

Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch