Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even more rich and layered, the 2012 Costieres De Nimes Lou Coucardie is a blend of 59% Roussanne and 41% Viognier. Aged in 10-15% new 500-Liter barrels, it offers up a spectacular array of ripe golden fruits, lemon curd, flowers and hints of vanilla that flow to a medium to full-bodied, voluptuously texture white that builds in the glass, yet never seems heavy or cumbersome.
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Wine Spectator
A little pumped up, with flattering brioche and almond layers that coat the core of creamed melon, Jonagold apple and persimmon. Comes together in the end, with lovely mouthfeel and a lingering exotic accent.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Gently rolling hills covered by large, round stones on south-facing slopes, Costieres de Nimes is a substantial IGP zone that was formerly considered part of the Languedoc. Today it is included as a section of the southern Rhone; its climate, topography and wines put it more in line with that appellation. Grenache is its most important red variety, along with Mourvedre, Syrah and Carignan. Half of the production here is rosé.