Move Over, Bacon!

Now this wine is just silly. I'm talking about the 2005 Clos du Mont-Olivet Serre de Catin Côtes du Rhône, which is 100% tank-aged Grenache from 35 year old vines. My friendly local retailer, who has excellent taste (i.e. his agrees with mine), wrote a blurb saying it put many a Châteauneuf to shame (!), and it seemed a great opportunity to taste the unblended, unadulterated essence of Rhône Grenache from a terrific producer.

The nose does exhibit pretty black pepper, bacon fat, and thyme aromas, but over two days of tasting all I get in the mouth is bacon fat and, to a lesser degree, raspberry ganache. There's lots of glycerin here. The acidity is modest and there are no tannins to speak of. More disappointingly, it's a bit flat at the midpalate and the finish is both short and a bit hot, although a faint saltiness sticks around and adds interest. All of this would be fine at $12 — it's a perfectly fine drink — but I shelled out $23.

God bless the Sabons, but I'm not taking this little piggy to town again.

Photo by Flickr user el_monstritro used under a Creative Commons license