wine from the supermarket, this week Sainsburys

 This week, whilst wandering down the Sainsbury's wine aisle, my eye was caught by a nice little offer. Two Cote du Rhône, for the price of £12.00. The wine is stupidly young to drink, but for those with a wine rack under the stairs (or bigger) it is a good idea to buy a few.

The wine comes from the South of the Rhône region and is made with a quartet of grapes. The percentages of differing grapes varies from year to year, but the quality and taste they endeavour to keep the same. 2011 was a good year for the Rhône region, so this is worth buying in to.

A little trick, if you are going to drink Rhône wines early, is to open them for 24 hours and keep them at room
temperature. It is worth
a try doing this with aged bottles too. You get a smoother, smokier taste with loads of different flavours coming out.

Having tried my trick, the notes I give are a snapshot in time. The wine was ink black/purple in colour. The rim, as predicted, was very clear. Plenty more ageing to go.
The nose was one of fresh blackcurrant and hints of wood smoke. The taste sees the blackcurrant return and being joined by plums and liquorice. The tannins are very powerful and hopefully will settle down in time. Bonpas is a good producer, but go with others if preferred.

It is sad that Sainsbury's does not take the opportunity, to let customers know, that the wines they are buying, should be laid down for a while. I am sure there are rooms of wine producers, crying that their pride and joy is getting drunk before it reaches perfection.
I guess those rooms are full of bags of money too, so it is not all that bad?