Domaine de la Solitude Cotes Du Rhone Red 2018
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong
Product Details
Winemaker Notes
"A nose of a bouquet of garrigue and red fruits. Roundness on the palate, balanced with a nice sweetness, with aromas of cocoa and morello cherry, with a long and suave licorice finish. Blend: 50% Grenache, 40% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre"
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Delicate whiffs of singed anise and peppercorns accent bright red-plum and black-cherry flavors in this easy-drinking but refined red. A freshly concentrated blend of 50% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre, it's a juicy wine edged by fine-grained, pleasantly charry tannins and a lingering kiss of bramble and black currant. Best Buys
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Domaine de la Solitude Côtes du Rhone is bright and fresh, with a pleasing softness on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows flavors of boysenberries and earth. Serve it with cheese, pâté, and freshly-baked bread. (Tasted: February 27, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wilfred
Wong
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Wine
Enthusiast
In the 1980s, brothers Michel and Jean Lançon took the future of Domaine de la Solitude in their hands, focusing attention on the vineyards. Fertilizers have not been used at Solitude for the past ten years. Over the past several years, Michel’s son Florent Lançon has been taking over the day-to-day operations of Domaine de la Solitude, continuing to make improvements while preserving the traditions of his father and uncle. The Estate is a contiguous 100 acres, planted to 86 acres of red grapes and 14.8 acres of white grapes, with vines averaging 50 years of age.
Driven by the desire to produce the best possible wines while still respecting the traditions of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and their lineage, in 1999, Michel and Jean decided to introduce four prestige cuvées and added Cuvée Barberini Rouge, Cuvée Barberini Blanc, Réserve Secrète, and Cornelia Constanza to the winery’s production.
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.
Typically thought of as a baby Chateâuneuf-du-Pape, the term Côtes du Rhône actually doesn’t merely apply to the flatter outskirts of the major southern Rhône appellations, it also includes the fringes of well-respected northern Rhône appellations. White wines can be produced under the appellation name, but very little is actually made.
The region offers some of the best values in France and even some first-rate and age-worthy reds. Red wine varieties include most of the Chateâuneuf-du-Pape varieties like Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Counoise, as well as Carignan. White grapes grown include Grenache blanc, Roussanne and Viognier, among others.