Rotie Cellars Southern Red Blend 2016
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A rounded trifecta of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. Rotie's whites are crisp and bright.
Blend: 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Southern Blend is Grenache-dominated yet includes 20% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah, all aged 2nd and 3rd fill barrels. This deep ruby-colored beauty gives up an exotic bouquet of wild strawberries, passion fruits, ground pepper, and smoked meat. Medium to full-bodied, silky and seamless, it's another wine from this team that's incredibly polished, with terrific tannins and a great finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is a blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah. The aromas jump up, with notes of fresh orange, raspberry, olive, herb and wet stone. The palate is full bodied and rich, with abundant fruit and savory flavors that persist on the finish.
Other Vintages
2015-
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
An important winegrowing state increasingly recognized for its high-quality reds and whites, Washington ranks second in production in the U.S. after California. Washington wines continue to gain well-deserved popularity as they garner higher and higher praise from critics and consumers alike.
Washington winemakers draw inspiration mainly from Napa Valley, Bordeaux and the Rhône as well as increasingly from other regions like Spain and Italy. Most viticulture takes place on the eastern side of the state—an arid desert in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains. Irrigation is made possible by the Columbia River. Temperatures are extreme, with hot and dry summers and cold winters, during which frost can be a risk.
Washington’s wine industry was initially built on Merlot, which remains an important variety to this day, despite having been overtaken in acreage planted by Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Bordeaux blends and Rhône blends are common as well as single varietal bottlings. Washington reds tend to express a real purity of concentrated fruit. The best examples have a bold richness, seamless texture, plush or powdery tannins and flavors such as licorice, herb, forest floor, espresso and dark chocolate.
In terms of white wine from Washington state, Riesling is the state’s major success story, producing crisp, aromatic examples with plenty of stone fruit that range from bone dry to lusciously sweet. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc perform nicely here as well, and Viognier is beginning to pick up steam.